Alabama State Health Officer Dr. Scott Harris said Tuesday afternoon the state still does not have a confirmed case of the coronavirus, despite an increasing number of cases in surrounding states.

Harris said the number of people tested in Alabama is still “less than 20,” though as the state health department is focusing testing on people who meet certain criteria. The state health department is also monitoring “more than 100 people” who have returned to Alabama after traveling to areas where the virus is being spread.

“We have been in a mode of prevention and monitoring for the last two months,” Harris said.

“We believe that we have a good plan in place. We certainly understand that people are concerned and worried about the unknown. We have tried very hard to make sure that Alabama is prepared and that we have the appropriate measures to respond, should that happen.”

Harris said that while less than 20 people have been tested, the state has been advising and monitoring "more than 100″ travelers in Alabama who may have been exposed to the virus while outside of the state.

“We make contact with those individuals when they return to the state, we advise them on how to monitor themselves and to seek care if they become ill," Harris said. "We check in with them daily and have them checking their temperatures a couple of times daily, and most of those that we have monitored in that way have now completed monitoring and are thought not to have risk of disease.”

Harris answered questions at a press conference along with State Superintendent Eric Mackey and Brian Hastings, director of the Alabama Emergency Management Agency who spoke about the state’s preparations for dealing with coronavirus.

Harris said that currently samples from patients can be collected at most hospitals in the state and sent to the Alabama Department of Public Health for analysis, if approved. The results from those tests would be available within a few hours of being run. Harris said once the ADPH lab gets fully up to speed, it could handle up to 150 tests per day.

“Probably there’s not a need for that at this time,” he said. “We have plenty of capacity now to handle the ones that we are doing.”

There are also some private labs that can run tests for coronavirus, but that the health department is focusing on cases where the patient presents symptoms of coronavirus and has traveled to an area where transmission is known to occur.

“For public health, we have emphasized that we want to test the people who are most at risk for the disease or most susceptible to serious complications,” Harris said. “The average person in Alabama doesn’t need a test. People who do not have symptoms at all, in almost all cases do not need a test.”

You can watch the full video of the briefing below. The press conference begins about 4:48 into the video.