Colorado’s cases of the new coronavirus continue to rise, going from two to eight as of Friday afternoon.

El Paso County health officials reported the fifth presumptive positive case of COVID-19, the disease caused by the new coronavirus. The patient is a male in his 40s who recently traveled to California. He is currently in quarantine and not in need of hospitalization.

Officials are confident he did not travel internationally, and that he likely contracted coronavirus in California. The patient returned to Colorado via plane through Denver International Airport.

Two new cases in Douglas County and one new case in Eagle County were also announced on Friday. The two patients in Douglas County were a school-aged female and a woman in her 40s, both exposed during international travel. We do not know if these cases are related.

The patient in Eagle County is a woman in her 50s who was exposed during international travel. She is recovering in isolation and does not need to be hospitalized. The patient is working with officials to contact anyone that may have been exposed to her.

At a press conference at Centennial Hall in Colorado Springs on Friday afternoon to discuss the El Paso County case, health officials reiterated that Coloradans should remain calm.

Dr. Robin Johnson, medical director of El Paso Health, said at the press conference that the patient immediately self-isolated at the onset of his symptoms, even before he was tested. His family members are quarantined, and they're working on identifying anyone else he had contact with.

Xandra McMahon/CPR News Dr. Robin Johnson, medical director of El Paso Health, explains the latest coronavirus case that was reported in El Paso County, March 6, 2020.

Colorado's first two cases of COVID-19 were announced on Thursday, March 5. They include a man in his 30s who had been traveling from out-of-state to Summit County and an elderly woman in Douglas County who went on a cruise abroad.

Two more cases were reported in Denver on Friday, March 6, unconnected to the earlier cases in Colorado. One of the patients in Denver was a parent of a student at St. Anne’s Episcopal School, which had closed earlier on Friday due to possible exposure. Both of the people who tested positive had recently traveled to Vancouver and on a cruise. Both came to health officials to self-report their symptoms.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will have to confirm the results of all five tests.

In response to a question about why Colorado is hearing about all these cases at once, Johnson said she had an idea but emphasized she'd be hypothesizing, so to take her answer in that context.

"We have seen though in other areas that the spread of this virus has followed a similar pattern, so I don't know that it's just due to testing or that it's actually due to spread," Johnson said.