MEMPHIS - Tennessee health officials have raised the number of cases of new coronavirus in the state to nine.
Dozens of people remained quarantined or were under self-monitoring Wednesday as the Tennessee Department of Health added two cases to its list of patients with the virus that has sickened more than 1,000 people and killed 33 in the U.S.
Five cases have been confirmed in Williamson County, two in Davidson County, and one each in Shelby and Sullivan counties, the department said on its website.
For most people, the new coronavirus causes only mild or moderate symptoms, such as fever and cough. For some, especially older adults and people with existing health problems, it can cause more severe illness, including pneumonia.
The vast majority of people recover from the new virus. According to the World Health Organization, people with mild illness recover in about two weeks, while those with more severe illness may take three to six weeks to recover.
In the Memphis area, about 80 people were under quarantine or were monitoring themselves after contacting health officials, Shelby County Health Department Director Alisa Haushalter told reporters at a news conference Wednesday.
Haushalter said she did not know how many patients have been tested in the county. Tests are analyzed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the state health department and private labs, she said.
The Shelby County patient traveled out of state but not out of the country, officials have said. Haushalter declined to release the location of the patient's travel, but she did say the health department does not know of other coronavirus cases in the community where the patient went.
"There's not a need to release that," Haushalter said of the patient's travel destination.
One school employee who had come into contact with the Shelby County patient has been released from quarantine, superintendent Joris Ray said at the news conference.
In Nashville, Belmont University said it has extended its current spring break as a precaution.