N.J. Doctor at Times Square Event is N.J.’s 1st Virus Case
Doctor Who Attended Times Square Event Is N.J.’s 1st Virus Case
(Bloomberg) -- A physician who works in New York City and attended a multi-day conference at a Times Square hotel, is the first of New Jersey’s six coronavirus patients, state health officials said.
The 32-year-old man, who has residences in Fort Lee and New York, attended workshops at the Westin Times Square from Feb. 28-March 2, according to Judith Persichilli, the New Jersey health commissioner. He tested positive on March 4, becoming the first to be diagnosed in the state while under treatment at Hackensack University Medical Center.
The patient earlier had sought treatment at CityMD, an urgent-care center on Route 4 in Paramus, Persichilli told reporters Sunday on a conference call. State officials previously had disclosed few details about the case, citing patient confidentiality.
A woman who identified herself as a Westin manager on the telephone on Sunday declined to comment. She referred questions to the hotel’s human-resources department on Monday.
Persichilli said New Jersey’s coronavirus total grew to six, from four on Saturday. The latest patients are a 70-year-old health-care worker from Teaneck who is being treated at Saint Joseph’s University Medical Center in Paterson, and a 32-year-old man from West New York who is also at the Hackensack hospital. Officials said they were trying to determine how those individuals came in contact with the virus.
The earlier cases were identified as a Cherry Hill man, an Englewood woman and an Englewood man who had visited the Conservative Political Action Conference in Maryland. President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence also were among the attendees, but the White House downplayed any possible contact. Meanwhile, Senator Ted Cruz will self-quarantine in his Texas home after a person he had a “brief conversation and a handshake” with at the conference tested positive for coronavirus.
To contact the reporter on this story: Elise Young in Trenton at eyoung30@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Flynn McRoberts at fmcroberts1@bloomberg.net, Linus Chua, Steve Geimann
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