US capital reports first ‘presumptive’ coronavirus case

WASHINGTON

The U.S. capital of Washington D.C. reported its first coronavirus case Saturday, according to its mayor.

Mayor Muriel Bowser said the patient is a D.C. resident in his 50s and has "no history of international travel and no close contacts with a known case."

He had symptoms of the virus known as COVID-19 in late February and was admitted to a hospital March 5, she said at a news conference.

Bowser said the city’s Public Health Lab monitored 11 patients and nine tested negative. One is pending.

Earlier, the mayor said a test at D.C. Department of Forensic Sciences "yielded its first presumptive positive coronavirus (COVID-19) case.”

The case is "presumptive" pending Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) confirmatory testing.

The U.S. coronavirus death toll rose to 17 after another person died in the state of Florida. More than 300 people have been diagnosed with the virus in the country.

First detected in Wuhan, China in December, the virus known as COVID-19 now is present in more than 87 countries.

The global death toll has surpassed 3,300, with more than 100,000 confirmed cases, according to the World Health Organization.