Santa Clara County health officials Friday afternoon announced the Bay Area’s first confirmed case of the novel coronavirus that has alarmed health officials around the world, saying it sickened a local man after he returned a week earlier from traveling in China where the disease originated.

County Health Officer Sara Cody said the man recently traveled to Wuhan, China, and returned Jan. 24 to Mineta San Jose International Airport and then first showed symptoms after getting home. He is the Bay Area’s first confirmed case, the third in California and the seventh in the United States, Cody said Friday.

But fortunately, Cody said, the man never became sick enough to require hospitalization, has had contact with few people and has been “self-isolating” at home since returning, leaving only to seek outpatient medical treatment on two occasions. Cody said the county is monitoring his family members and others with whom he came in contact.

“We understand that this news may be concerning,” Cody said. “But based on what we know today, the risk to residents of our community remains low.”

Friday’s announcement came a day after the International Health Regulations Emergency Committee of the World Health Organization declare the outbreak a “public health emergency of international concern,” citing nearly 20,000 confirmed and suspected cases and 200 deaths in China.

It also comes at the height of the season in North America for influenza, a disease that afflicts millions of Americans and kills tens of thousands annually. Though the novel coronavirus has not reached that level of misery, Cody said health officials are concerned because it is new.

“There’s a lot we don’t know,” Cody said.

County officials had been anticipating a case locally for more than a week, Cody said. The San Francisco Bay Area has the nation’s second largest Chinese American community behind New York, and its technology industry has deep ties to the country.

“We’re not surprised to be the first,” Cody said.

Cody declined to say where the local infected man lives, how old he is, how many family members had contact with him or where he sought treatment. He is currently in “stable condition” and being monitored by the public health department.

Cody emphasized that there is no evidence that the virus is spreading anywhere in the county, Bay Area or Northern California.

The man has had limited contact with other people, and health officials are contacting all of them and will have them stay at home for 14 days, Cody said.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed the man who lives somewhere in the county has the virus, according to a news release from the Santa Clara County Public Health Department.

Concerns about coronavirus — which originated in Wuhan, China — have spread through the Bay Area this week as more than 9,000 people have become ill in China. Over 200 people have died, mostly in the Hubei Province.

Two other confirmed coronavirus cases in California, one in Los Angeles and one in Orange County, are being closely monitored.

On Thursday, officials confirmed the first person-to-person spread of coronavirus in the United States in Chicago, raising the nation’s total number of cases to six. The Santa Clara County man becomes the country’s seventh case. Related Articles Coronavirus: Is it safe to dine indoors? Bay Area restaurants say their survival depends on it

COVID-19 then and now: Six reasons why death rates are improving

Updated CDC guidance acknowledges coronavirus can spread through the air

Hundreds of Catholics gather in San Francisco to decry COVID-19 limits on worship

Coronavirus cases, deaths continue to decline in California as flu season begins

Earlier this week, Santa Clara County ramped up its Emergency Operations Center — activated last Wednesday — and reassigned about two dozen staff to the center. Alameda and San Francisco counties have also activated operations centers.

Check back for updates.

———

If you feel sick: If you were in China in the last 14 days, or are the close friend or family member of someone who has been in China in the last 14 days, and feel sick with fever, cough, or difficulty breathing, you should: