LA First Presumptive Case

Hannah's In Studio

Louisiana has its first presumptive case of coronavirus.

The case coming from a jefferson parish resident who was hospitalized in orleans parish... tha's right and governor john bel edwards addressed the case in the state capitol on the first day of session.

News1's hannah st.

Claire has more.

Good morning hannah... good morning guys... even though i's a presumptive case governor edwards says the're treating it like i's a full positive.

Governor edwards joined health officials for a press conference on how they would address this virus and explained what a presumptive case was.

So what it mean is a person is presumed to have an illness but will still need further testing to positively confirm the virus.

Louisiana health officials will now send the test for the jefferson parish resident to the u-s.

Centers for disease control and prevention for final confirmation.

Now the governor could't give us any specific information on the individual who tested positive.

But what he did say is they are checking their friends and family and anyone else they may have been in contact with.

As the state continues to get more test kits and test more people the governor believes theres more to come.

"that seems to be wha's happening around the country -- in other states.

Once they get there first one they typically get another one and so forth.

And we do't have any reason to believe that tha's not going to be the case in here in louisiana.

But thats why it is important that people take the precautions that we are giving because we can limit this."

Edwards and the health officials stressed that the elderly and those with health issues are the most vulnerable and should take extra precautions.

The cdc still believes the risk to the general public is low, but govenor edwards says the state is working quickly to assess the risk to those around this patient.

We will continue to follow this story here and online at kadn dot com.

In studio, hannah st.

Claire news15... carter and alex back to you.

Thanks hannah, governor edwards also told lawmakers that the state had completed 15 coronavirus tests, 14 of which turned up negative with the one positive coming