The Wuhan coronavirus patient in Washington state is being isolated in a tiny room and treated by a robot as doctors try to prevent the outbreak
- The patient in Everett, Washington, with China's deadly Wuhan coronavirus is being treated in a tiny room and largely by a robot.
- The unnamed man is being kept in a small, 20-foot-by-20-foot bio containment room and treated by a robot with a camera, a microphone, and a stethoscope.
- Doctors say the patient's condition is "satisfactory," and officials are monitoring 16 other people he had close contact with.
- The virus can spread between humans, and has already infected medical staff in China, where it has killed 17 people and infected almost 600.
- Apart from the US, the virus has also spread to Taiwan, Japan, South Korea, and Thailand.
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The patient in Washington state infected with China's deadly Wuhan coronavirus is being treated in a small, 20-foot-by-20-foot and largely by a robot with a stethoscope.
The unnamed man in his 30s is the only person in the US identified as having the virus, which has killed 17 people in China and has spread to South Korea, Japan, Taiwan, and Thailand.
He is being treated in the Providence Regional Medical Center in Everett, where he was admitted to the special pathogens unit on Monday after a trip to China.
Dr. George Diaz, the head of the center's infectious disease program, told The Guardian that the patient is being kept in a small, 20-foot-by-20-foot bio containment room.
The patient is also being treated by a robot that has a camera, a microphone, and a stethoscope to minimize doctors' contact with the virus, Diaz said.
The virus can spread from human to human, and medical workers in China have already been infected.
Diaz said that the patient's condition was "satisfactory" on Wednesday, but did not give an update on when he would be able to leave the hospital.
Jay Cook, the hospital's chief medical officer, also told Reuters that patient is doing well and might be released soon.
Officials in the state said they were monitoring at least 16 people that the patient had been in close contact with, though none of them have displayed symptoms yet, Reuters reported.
This is the first time the hospital has used its special pathogens unit, which has been on standby since it was set up for the 2015 Ebola crisis, Diaz told The Guardian.
"Every few weeks [we're] doing drills and training like you would for an earthquake or fire drill or something like that, and so you're always trying to maintain a state of readiness," Diaz said.
"The wheels were greased enough that it wasn't hard to get the process rolling to activate all the procedures that we had put in place."
Airports in the US and other countries are stepping up security and quarantine procedures in a bid to stop the virus from spreading, while China has put three cities on lockdown in an unprecedented move.
Individuals diagnosed with the virus, or showing its symptoms, are in quarantine in various countries.
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