Second S.A. resident, one evacuee test positive for coronavirus

A second San Antonio resident has tested positive for the novel coronavirus. A second San Antonio resident has tested positive for the novel coronavirus. Photo: Centers For Disease Control And Prevention Photo: Centers For Disease Control And Prevention Image 1 of / 98 Caption Close Second S.A. resident, one evacuee test positive for coronavirus 1 / 98 Back to Gallery

A second San Antonio resident has tested positive for the novel coronavirus as well as one evacuee in quarantine at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland.

The local resident, whose diagnosis was confirmed late Friday, had recently traveled to Japan, where about 1,400 infection cases have been reported. That person has underlying health issues and is currently receiving treatment, according to the San Antonio Metropolitan Health District.

The health department is investigating the patient’s recent contact with others to gauge their risk of exposure to the virus.

On Friday, the city announced its first community case of coronavirus, in a person who had recently traveled to California. That case is also under investigation by Metro Health epidemiologists.

Neither case is considered to have resulted from person-to-person spread in San Antonio, health officials say.

The evacuee who tested positive is among 149 people who arrived at Lackland in the last week from the Grand Princess cruise ship, which was forced to dock in Oakland, Calif., as the coronavirus spread onboard. The evacuees are confined to the base for a two-week quarantine.

Lauren Caruba covers health care and medicine in the San Antonio and Bexar County area. Read her on our free site, mySA.com, and on our subscriber site, ExpressNews.com. | lcaruba@express-news.net | Twitter: @LaurenCaruba