One person in New York City was being tested for the new coronavirus, the city health department announced Thursday evening, amid fears of a global pandemic and CDC warnings that an outbreak in the United States is inevitable.

The individual reported their symptoms and said they recently traveled to Italy, according to health officials. Officials did not release further details, such as the age of the person, when specifically they traveled, or where they reported their symptoms.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will test the person for the virus that causes the COVID-19 illness, although officials did not confirm a timetable for when results will be released. In the previous seven tests of city cases, all of which came back negative, results were announced within a few days.

Symptoms of the virus include:

Runny nose

Headache

Cough

Sore throat

Fever

The CDC recommends those who feel sick with fever, cough, or difficulty breathing, and traveled to an area where the virus is prevalent, such as the Hubei province of China, where most cases have been reported — or was in contact with someone who had the virus — within the past 14 days should:

Immediately get medical care

Cover your mouth and nose with a tissue or your sleeve when coughing or sneezing

Regularly wash your hands with soap and water

Avoid contact with other people

Not travel

The virus can also cause wheezing and pneumonia. It is a member of the coronavirus family that's a close cousin to the deadly SARS and MERS viruses that have caused outbreaks in the past. Some symptoms are similar to influenza, which the CDC says has sickened tens of millions of U.S. residents and led to thousands of deaths since last fall.

There is no cure for the coronavirus. Health officials have yet to fully understand how destructive the virus could be, or exactly how quickly it can spread.

It's not clear which part of Italy the person being tested traveled to. Italy has reported a total of 650 cases of the new coronavirus, up from 400 on Wednesday evening and three a week ago. Three more people with the virus died in 24 hours, bringing Italy's toll to 15.

Italy has closed schools, museums, and theaters in the two hardest hit regions, and troops are enforcing quarantines around 10 towns in Lombardy and the epicenter of the Veneto cluster, Vo'Euganeo.

With worries growing about the new coronavirus in the U.S., state officials are ramping up efforts to prepare for a possible outbreak while simultaneously trying to assure the public that they are well-positioned to handle it.

Governors and legislators in several states have proposed pumping millions of dollars into programs to combat the virus. State health officials are checking on stockpiles of supplies such as face masks and respirators and arranging potential isolation sites for sick patients.

Many states — and New York City — also are pursuing federal approval to conduct tests for the virus at their own labs, which could confirm or rule out potential cases more rapidly than waiting on results from federal labs.

Top health officials from many states met this week in Washington with officials from President Donald Trump's administration. While the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has warned public institutions, businesses and individuals to get ready for the disease, Trump has said there is no need to panic and that the U.S. is "very, very ready" to handle any outbreak.

Though the number of COVID-19 cases remains low in the U.S., the spread of the virus from China through Asia and elsewhere has alarmed some state and local officials.

A new coronavirus case announced Wednesday in California could be the first in the U.S. that has no known connection to foreign travel or another known case, a possible sign the virus is spreading in a U.S. community, health officials said. Even before then, some cities and counties in California have preemptively declared local health emergencies.

Federal health officials have already burned through $105 million in emergency funding while preparing for the coronavirus. Trump has requested an additional $2.5 billion to combat the virus, while congressional Democrats have proposed nearly four times that amount. But some state officials are not waiting for Congress to act.

Gov. Andrew Cuomo has said he will ask lawmakers to approve $40 million to respond to the threat, including hiring additional state health workers and buying supplies such as protective masks and gloves. In New York City alone, more than 1.5 million protective masks already have been given to health care workers and first responders, and the city is seeking more.

Several other states also are looking to set aside additional money because of the coronavirus.

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