US health officials reported Friday a fourth case of novel coronavirus of unknown origin, indicating the disease was spreading in the country.
The latest case is a boy under 18 in Washington State who tested "presumptive positive," local authorities said without releasing further details about the patient.
He is currently in home isolation in Snohomish County. The high school he attends will be shut until March 3 while it is deep cleaned, the Washington State Department of Health said.
In neighbouring Oregon, authorities said Friday an adult who had had contact with people at an elementary school had been hospitalized and was also considered "presumptive positive."
"We are preparing for the worst," he said. "My administration has taken the most aggressive action in modern history to prevent the spread of this illness in the United States." He called the coronavirus the Democrats' "new hoax."
"The Democrats are politicizing the coronavirus. They're politicizing it," he said. "They don't have any clue. They can't even count their votes in Iowa."