Suspected CUH coronavirus case tests negative

Test results have confirmed that the patient placed in isolation at Cork University Hospital (CUH) does not have the coronavirus.

However, a Cork healthcare expert has warned it is “highly likely” there will be a confirmed coronavirus case in Ireland in the next week or so.

On Wednesday, The Echo reported that a male patient at CUH was recently placed in an isolation unit amid concerns he could have had the virus.

Sources said an Irish man in his early- to mid-20s — who had recently returned from China — had presented at the hospital with symptoms similar to those of the virus.

It is understood that and the man was placed in isolation.

Tests were conducted and the results came back last night as negative.

The number of confirmed fatalities from the outbreak has risen to more than 560 and the number of confirmed infections to over 28,000.

Around 24 countries now have confirmed cases of the coronavirus.

Chris Luke, consultant in emergency medicine and adjunct senior lecturer in public health at University College Cork, warned that people must remain vigilant as it is likely that a case of the coronavirus will be confirmed in Ireland in the coming weeks.

“Because of globalisation and because people travel so much between continents and countries, it is highly likely that we will see a case in the next week or two,” said Dr Luke.

“They’re testing for the disease in the UK, it has turned up in Europe in France and Germany, and there has been a dozen or so cases in the US.”