TEXAS CENTER FOR INFECTIOUS DISEASE

SAN ANTONIO – Update:Luis Marquez has been found safe, according to San Antonio police. As of Saturday night, Marquez had returned to the Texas Center for Infectious Disease on his own, safe and unharmed. According to police, Luis Esteban Marquez left the Texas Center for Infectious Disease at 9:00 p.m., Friday. Anyone with more information on Marquez’s whereabouts is urged to call the San Antonio Police Department’s Missing Person unit at 210-207-7660. San Antonio police say he robbed a North Side Little Ceasar’s Pizza restaurant

North Star Mall opened its doors Tuesday morning at 10 a.m. after closing temporarily so employees could deep clean of the shopping center following a visit Saturday from a woman who was released from quarantine before test results found she still carried traces of the novel coronavirus. Mall officials said some of stores will have delayed openings, and recommended people confirming individual store hours prior to visiting the shopping center. San Antonio health officials said Monday the patient was not exhibiting symptoms, but North Star Mall officials said they were taking extra precautions for the well-being of [the] shopping center community by closing for approximately 24 hours so that the facilities can be cleaned further. While the shopping center has been cleaned several times using [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention]-recommended products, as an abundance of caution, we made the decision to close temporarily, North Star Mall officials said in a statement. North Star Mall officials said it will be transparent with the community during this time.

Metro Health on Saturday contacted officials at the hotel and the mall, encouraging them to complete a routine wipedown with disinfectants and to notify health officials should anyone begin to develop symptoms of a respiratory infection, Kurian said. Credit: Scott Ball / Rivard ReportHowever, CDC officials said she had two negative test results 24 hours apart, which they considered appropriate grounds for release. City and County officials said they are asking CDC officials to not allow coronavirus patients to be released until they receive three negative test results in a row. Guidance from the medical community has been to ensure that all tests come back before a person is released from quarantine, Nirenberg said. Test results for COVID-19 are typically received 48 to 72 hours from the time they were submitted to the CDC.

Ten people are in isolation at the Texas Center for Infectious Disease after testing positive for coronavirus. The other two people receiving treatment in San Antonio were brought from Wuhan, China where the virus was first detected. Texas officials have been taking steps for the past month to prepare for the potential spread of the novel coronavirus, known formally as COVID-19. Greg Abbott stressed that Texas state agencies are prepared to handle a variety of scenarios. DSHS Commissioner Dr. John Hellerstedt said the CDC has given laboratories within the state the green light to receive and administer coronavirus testing kits and is beginning the validation process.

Nine people are in isolation at the Texas Center for Infectious Disease after testing positive for coronavirus. The other person receiving treatment in San Antonio is brought from Wuhan, China where the virus was first detected. Greg Abbott stressed that Texas state agencies are prepared to handle a variety of scenarios. Messonier said increasing the number of test kits is crucial to the U.S. containment strategy. Correction: An earlier version of this article incorrectly identified the number of confirmed coronavirus cases currently in San Antonio.