Fifteen people died from coronavirus in Wuhan, China on Friday, bringing the death toll to 41 people, Chinese officials said in a statement online.
A second case of the virus was confirmed in the U.S. Friday, along with three cases in France.
The victims in China were between the ages of 55 and 87 years old, the statement said. In Hubei Province, where Wuhan is located, 180 new cases of coronavirus were reported Friday, bring the total number of people affected to more than 1,000 worldwide.
French health officials confirmed the first three cases in Europe. At a press conference Friday afternoon, Health Minister Agnes Buzyna identified two of the patients as a 48-year-old man in the southwestern city of Bordeaux, who had passed through Wuhan; and another person in Paris, who had also traveled to China. Both were hospitalized.
Buzyna did not immediately provide details about the third patient.
In the U.S., health officials confirmed the second case of coronavirus. A Chicago woman returned Jan. 13 from Wuhan, the epicenter of the outbreak, and began experiencing symptoms a few days after arriving home, said Dr. Allison Arwady, commissioner of the Chicago Department of Public Health.
The 60-year-old woman called her doctor after symptoms arose and she was admitted to a hospital and placed in isolation, health officials said. Further testing confirmed the virus.
Arwady said the woman is "clinically doing well and in stable condition." She did not have extended contact with anyone outside of her home, attend a large public gathering or use public transportation, Arwady said.
READ: Chinese pulmonologist, 84, who discovered SARS virus in 2003, heads to Wuhan to fight new virus
The woman was not symptomatic while flying, and Arwady told reporters at a Chicago news conference, "The CDC does not believe that, in the time before symptoms develop, the patients are able to be contagious."
Within hours of the announcement, the lone Walgreens in Chicago's Chinatown neighborhood had sold out of face masks, and Lunar New Year events across the city were being canceled, the Chicago Tribune reported.
READ: China coronavirus: 8 cities now on lockdown
The risk to the U.S. public remains low but more cases will likely be confirmed in the coming days, said Dr. Nancy Messonnier, the director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
At least 63 potential cases are under investigation in 22 states, and 11 were confirmed negative, Messonnier said. The other potential cases are being tested. In airports around the U.S., over 2,000 returning travelers have been screened, the CDC said.
Health officials are still in the early stages of understanding the virus and its symptoms, Messonnier told reporters Friday. She said the virus has an incubation period of about 14 days and it was too early to say whether it is more or less infectious than other coronaviruses like SARS or MERS.
"Our biggest concern would be household contacts – people who are spending extended periods of time having conversations," Arwady added.
The World Health Organization on Thursday declined to categorize the outbreak as a global health emergency, saying there is no evidence of human-to-human infection outside China.
China locks down cities, parts of Great Wall amid coronavirus outbreak
At least 830 people in China have been sickened and tens of millions are under lockdown as the coronavirus sweeps across the country.
READ: Doctor at hospital in Wuhan dies from deadly Coronavirus: State media
Public transportation halted for roughly 36 million people in 13 cities in central China, including Wuhan, where the virus was first detected last month. Other major cities across the country canceled events tied to the Lunar New Year celebration, a busy time for travel.
Beijing's Forbidden City, Shanghai Disneyland and other tourists spots have all closed. Reuters and CNN reported that part of the Great Wall near Beijing will close starting Saturday.
President Donald Trump thanked China on Twitter Friday for its efforts to contain the disease.
"China has been working very hard to contain the Coronavirus. The United States greatly appreciates their efforts and transparency. It will all work out well. In particular, on behalf of the American People, I want to thank President Xi!" he said in a post.
Authorities in Wuhan said Friday they were constructing a 1,000-bed hospital like one built in Beijing during a SARS outbreak, a similar respiratory virus. The 2003 outbreak left about 800 people dead after spreading from China to more than a dozen countries. The coronavirus hospital is planned for a 270,000-square-foot lot and will be completed early February.
READ: Virologist who helped fight SARS warns the Chinese coronavirus outbreak could be at least 10 TIMES worse than the 2003 epidemic that left 775 dead
A 36-year-old man in Hubei died Thursday after a sudden cardiac arrest. The man was admitted to a hospital last month with a fever and is now the youngest known fatality from the virus. Most deaths have been older patients.
While most cases have centered in China, an increasing number of cases have been confirmed in other places, including South Korea, Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam.
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This article first appeared on USA Today.
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