The spread of coronavirus will almost certainly come to Tennessee, and the virus may already be “quietly moving among us,” said a renowned Vanderbilt expert on infectious diseases on Monday.

Dr. William Schaffner, a professor of preventive medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, said the growing coronavirus pandemic had established “independent chains of transmission” in U.S. with no known link to China or other infected nations.

Although coronavirus has not yet been detected in Tennessee, the virus should now be expected to reach to “virtually every state,” Schaffner said.

“Patients showed they had no contact with China or any other country in the world, so they must have picked up their coronavirus locally, which means the virus is quietly moving among us and spreading from person to person, at least in some locations,” Schaffner said. “How extensive is that? In the United States, we still do not know.”

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Coronavirus has infected 87,000 and killed 3,000

Coronavirus, or COVID-19, is a fast spreading virus that originated in China but has since become a worldwide pandemic. As of Sunday, the virus had infected more than 87,000 people and killed close to 3,000, according to the World Health Organization. In the United States, the virus has been detected in 43 people in 10 states, plus another 48 Americans who were repatriated after being infected overseas. Six people have died in the state of Washington.

The closest known infections to Tennessee were in Illinois and Florida, until Monday night, when two new cases were confirmed in Georgia.

Gov. Bill Lee said Monday he participated in a conference call with Vice President Mike Pence, who is leading the nationwide response to the outbreak. In multiple comments, Lee spoke about as it was only a matter of time before coronavirus reached his state.

“It really is going to be primarily our own response when and if a case comes to Tennessee,” Lee said. “How we respond is what is going to matter most, and we feel confident about at least our ability to respond.”

Medical experts, including the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention, have urged the public to take commonplace precautions similar to how they would prevent the spread of flu: Wash your hands, avoid touching your face as much as possible and stay home if you feel sick.

Officials have advised that members of the public do not need to wear face masks or protective gear during everyday life.

At least some of infections in the U.S. have been detected in people with no known connection to international travel, so it remains unclear how the virus was contracted. Schaffner described these cases, with no clear origin, as a turning point in the spread of the virus.

“Before, this was something interesting and threatening and novel and exotic, but it was out there, it wasn’t here,” Schaffner said. “But with the advent of community associated cases, that has changed things. All the sudden it might be right here, and we don’t’ know about it yet.”

Coronavirus testing tackled by state agency

The Nashville Metro Public Health Department said last week it had monitored or was monitoring 19 local residents who had been flagged after returning from traveling internationally. Dr. Gill Wright, the agency’s interim medical director, said none of the residents had shown symptoms of coronavirus.

Testing for coronavirus is being handled by the state Tennessee Department of Health, which acquired materials to test for the virus sometime in the past two weeks. A department spokeswoman said the agency would answer questions about testing on Wednesday.

Schaffner, the Vanderbilt expert, said last week he recommended one woman seek testing from the state after traveling to Italy. The woman had exhibited mild flu-like symptoms after traveling to Rome, which is far from the portions of Italy where the virus had spread.

Tennessean politics reporter Joel Ebert contributed to this report.

Brett Kelman is the health care reporter for The Tennessean. He can be reached at 615-259-8287 or at brett.kelman@tennessean.com. Follow him on Twitter at @brettkelman.