What to Know No positive cases of coronavirus in San Diego at this time

Health offcials say avoid non-essential travel to any part of China, not just Wuhan.

China has reported nearly 11,791 cases including 259 deaths

The possible coronavirus case investigated in San Diego County has been confirmed as negative, the County Health and Human Services Agency (HHSA) announced Thursday.

The potential case was reported to the HHSA on Sunday. Health officials said a specimen was collected that day from a patient who may have contracted the respiratory disease when they traveled to Wuhan, China.

The specimen was sent to the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) for testing and has been confirmed as negative. They also said San Diego County currently has no other patients under investigation.

“We are monitoring this new virus just like we would any infectious disease,” said Wilma Wooten, M.D., M.P.H., County public health officer. “We are prepared and conducting surveillance to keep this virus from spreading locally.”

NBC 7's Steven Luke reports from Scripps Ranch where a medical company is dealing with an increasing number of San Diegans who wrongly believe they have coronavirus.

The patient was under home quarantine as of Wednesday and was showing signs of improvement, according to an HHSA official.

To date, China has reported nearly 11,791 cases including 259 deaths. Eighteen other countries have since reported cases, as scientists race to understand how exactly the virus is spreading and how severe it is.

The World Health Organization declared the outbreak sparked by a new virus in China that has spread to more than a dozen countries as a global emergency Thursday after the number of cases spiked more than tenfold in a week.