01.24.20

Durbin, Duckworth Statement On Confirmation Of Coronavirus In Chicago

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Tammy Duckworth (D-IL) today released the following statement after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) confirmed the second case of coronavirus in the United States is in Chicago:

“We are monitoring the second confirmed U.S. case of novel coronavirus being treated at a Chicago hospital.  First, we commend the Chicago hospital personnel for identifying this quickly.  And we commend Mayor Lightfoot and others who chose to monitor visitors from Wuhan, China, traveling into Chicago, which is also happening at other major airports across the country. 

“CDC has confirmed that they are sending a team to Chicago to talk to the patient and family in order to quarantine any potential spread, showing a timely response from Washington.  We are in the earliest stages of measuring the impact of novel coronavirus, but it is being taken very seriously.  We will keep in close contact with the public health agencies at the federal level and monitor this very carefully.”

This morning, Durbin attended a briefing with representatives from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), CDC, and National Institutes of Health (NIH) on the U.S. Government’s response to the coronavirus outbreak originating in Wuhan, China.

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