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What is the new coronavirus?
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The spread of a highly contagious coronavirus has had wide-ranging global impacts, including in the financial markets and government travel policies.

As of March 3, the COVID-19 outbreak had infected more than 92,000 people and killed more than 3,000 people globally, according to data collected by Johns Hopkins University. 

In Arizona the effects so far have been minimal. A man in his 20s who is part of the Arizona State University community and had traveled to the Wuhan area of China is no longer infected and is out of isolation.

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As a service to readers, The Arizona Republic is offering all coverage related to the epidemic free of charge. The latest updates, and what Arizonans need to know about it now, along with frequently asked questions: 

a close up of smoke: Centers for Disease Control and Prevention illustration of coronavirus. © U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention illustration of coronavirus.

How much will tourism drop cost Arizona?  

Many flights from Asia to the U.S. have already been canceled, so how much could a drop in visitors cost Arizona?  

Arizona receives 5.9 million international visitors each year. According to statistics from the Arizona Office of Tourism, in 2018, Chinese citizens accounted for 82,000 of the visitors to Arizona. South Korean citizens represented 67,000 of the visitors. 

Chris Thompson, CEO of Brand USA, a public-private partnership that promotes travel to the U.S., says foreign travelers represent 11% of U.S. exports, with the average overseas visitor spending $4,500 per person. That figure grows to $7,500 for visitors from China.

Thompson said some early predictions suggest the U.S. could see a 30% drop in  visitation from China, which he says could equate to a loss of $10 billion.

24 tests negative in Arizona, 1 pending

March 2: Arizona's State Public Health Laboratory has begun testing for new coronavirus in-house. The change means the state can process its own samples without relying on the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

State Health Department Director Dr. Cara Christ said the lab could process up to 450 samples a day if needed, with same- or next-day turnaround.

Christ could not provide the precise number of test kits the state had on hand but said she did not anticipate shortages.

Aside from the Arizona State University community member who is out of isolation, Arizona had tested 25 people for the virus to date, with 24 individuals testing negative, Christ said. The last person's results were pending.

Washington state reports 4 more deaths

March 2: Four more people have died of the coronavirus in Washington state, raising the death toll in the state and the nation to six, health officials said Monday.

Jeffrey Duchin, a health officer in King County and Seattle, said at a Monday news conference five of the deaths were people from King County and one was from Snohomish County, north of Seattle.  

Researchers said earlier that the virus may have been circulating for weeks undetected in Washington state.

Governor to give Arizona preparedness update

March 2: Gov. Doug Ducey will provide an update on Arizona's COVID-19 preparedness efforts at a 2:30 p.m. press conference, his office announced Monday.

Dr. Cara Christ, state Department of Health Services director; Wendy Smith-Reeve, Emergency Management director; and Jami Snyder, AHCCCS director, will join Ducey at the state Public Health Laboratory in Phoenix.  

During a radio interview last week, the governor cautioned against panicking prematurely, saying the public should "hope for the best" but "be prepared."

"We’ve done the exercises to plan ahead," he said.

Some airlines waive change fees amid crisis

American Airlines and other carriers, worried about soft ticket sales, are taking the unprecedented step of broadly waiving those hefty ticket change and cancellation fees for new ticket purchases.

JetBlue started the trend last week because of "evolving coronavirus concerns'' and was quickly joined by Alaska Airlines, which calls it a "peace of mind'' waiver.

American is the first of the big three U.S. airlines to announce the fee waiver. Delta and United have not done so but it wouldn't be surprising if they match the offer, given the competition in the airline industry. Southwest Airlines doesn't charge change fees.

NYC: 'It was a case of not if, but when'

March 2: New York state reported its first case on Monday, a 39-year-old Manhattan woman who contracted the virus while traveling in Iran. The woman, a health care worker, was isolated in her home with "respiratory symptoms" but was not in serious condition.

"We said early on it was a case of not if, but when," Gov. Andrew Cuomo said at a news conference. "This is New York, we're a gateway to the world. To see all these cases around the world, around the country, of course we are going to have here."

Thousands attend Asian District fest, bucking unfounded fears 

Feb. 29: A line packed with thousands of excited and hungry customers wrapped around the block outside Mesa's Asian District on Saturday night for the Asian District Night Market. 

Organizers faced a challenge as the event approached: Tweets, emails and angry phone calls urged them to cancel the event due to fears of the novel coronavirus making an unwanted appearance.

Person in Washington state dies from virus, first in US

Feb. 29: Washington state officials confirmed Saturday a person died of COVID-19, marking the first death from the virus in the United States.

CDC fixes testing kit glitch 

Feb. 29: The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has taken steps to address problems with test kits mailed to state and local labs. 

Rep. Greg Stanton said in a letter that "top public health officials" told him kits sent Feb. 11 from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to the Arizona State Public Health Laboratory don't work as needed.

CDC officials said there were three components of the test kits for new coronavirus, but one of the components was giving inconclusive results. It was a problem nationally, not just in Arizona.

That third component can be excluded from testing without affecting accuracy, federal officials explained Friday during a new coronavirus telebriefing.

The CDC also has manufactured additional new test kits with only the two components specific to new coronavirus, an official said.

US urges Americans to reconsider travel to Italy 

Feb. 28: A U.S. government advisory urged Americans to reconsider traveling to Italy due to the spread of the virus. 

The U.S. State Department issued late Friday a level three advisory – the second-highest level of warning – for Italy, saying the CDC recommended “avoiding nonessential travel."

First case identified in Oregon

Feb. 28: One person has tested positive for the COVID-19 coronavirus in Oregon, according to the Salem Register-Guard.

State health officials said the person is a resident of Washington County, in the northwestern portion of the state west of Portland, and was not involved in any travel that would have led them to contract the virus.

2nd California case of community transmission ID'd

Feb. 28: Health officials have confirmed the second case of novel coronavirus in the United States believed to have been transmitted to a person who didn’t travel internationally or come in close contact with anyone who had it.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Friday, Feb. 28, that officials are “aware of a second possible instance of community spread of COVID-19 in California." The CDC said in a statement that the patient has tested positive for the virus and is considered a presumptive positive case.

Health officials in San Jose said the patient was an older adult woman with chronic health conditions who does not have a travel history or any known contact with a traveler or infected person. It came a day after state officials said a woman hospitalized at UC Davis Health Center in Sacramento had contracted the illness after no known contact.

What to know before you book a trip abroad

Concerns over the spread of the new COVID-19 coronavirus have a lot of people wondering: Should I book that summer vacation? Should I still go on that cruise?

First know the facts. Check the World Health Organization's situation map of where cases have occurred. Also see the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's coronavirus website. It has information about the disease and country-specific advisories.

The Arizona Republic's Melissa Yeager has a step-by-step guide to assessing — or reassessing — your travel plans. The guidance includes:

  • Enrolling in the State Department's Smart Traveler program.
  • Checking travel advisories.
  • Reading the CIA's assessment of the country.
  • Checking cancellation policies.
  • Booking with a credit card and researching protections.
  • Buying travel insurance.

WHO increases coronavirus risk to 'very high'

Feb. 28: The World Health Organization increased its coronavirus risk assessment to "very high" as cases outside of China continue to increase. But officials caution the virus can still be contained if the chain of transmission can be broken.

"What we see at the moment are linked epidemics of COVID-19 in several countries, but most cases can still be traced to known contacts or clusters of cases. We do not see evidence as yet that the virus is spreading freely in communities," said Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO director general.

"As long as that’s the case, we still have a chance of containing this coronavirus, if robust action is taken to detect cases early, isolate and care for patients and trace contacts."

ASU cancels South Korea study abroad programs

Feb. 27: Arizona State University has canceled its study abroad programs in South Korea because of the new coronavirus outbreak, the university announced.

The decision, effective Wednesday, comes after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced South Korea had been elevated to a Level 3 warning, recommending no non-essential travel to the country.

The university had previously banned all travel to China for students amid the outbreak of the virus, also known as COVID-19.

CDC confirms first 'unknown' coronavirus case in California

Feb. 26: The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed an infection in California that would represent the first U.S. person to contract the virus despite not visiting a foreign country recently or coming in contact with an infected patient.

"At this time, the patient’s exposure is unknown,'' the CDC said in a statement. "It’s possible this could be an instance of community spread of COVID-19, which would be the first time this has happened in the United States.

This brought the number of coronavirus cases detected in the U.S. to 15, with 12 of them related to travel and the other two to direct contact with a patient. There are another 42 Americans who tested positive on the Diamond Princess cruise ship that was quarantined in Japan, and three detected in Wuhan, China.

Arizona patient released from isolation

Feb. 21: The patient with Arizona's only case of COVID-19 was released from isolation, 26 days after his diagnosis was first confirmed.

He was released from isolation after multiple negative tests by the CDC for COVID-19.

Arizona's first case confirmed

Jan. 26: Arizona's first case of COVID-19 was confirmed with a male patient in his 20s who is part of the Arizona State University community.

The man, whose name and more specific relationship to ASU were not released, had been traveling in Wuhan, China before his diagnosis in Maricopa County.

He did not live in university housing, and was isolated to prevent the spread of the illness. 

What are the symptoms of coronavirus?

Common signs of infection include fever, cough, shortness of breath and breathing difficulties. If it worsens, it can cause pneumonia, severe acute respiratory syndrome, kidney failure or even death.

The virus can be spread from animals to people. But it also can be spread by coughing, sneezing and through close contact with an infected person or an object carrying the virus. Experts are still figuring out how long an infected person is contagious as they try to determine a point of transmission.

Coronaviruses are found in a variety of animals. If passed from animal to human, the virus can change and infect other humans, who can spread the infection to others, according to the CDC.

Those most at risk are the elderly and people who are sick with other conditions.

USA TODAY and The Associated Press contributed to this article.

This article originally appeared on Arizona Republic: Coronavirus in Arizona? Updates on where the virus is now, symptoms, travel safety

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