Maryland declares state of emergency as 3 coronavirus cases confirmed

Maryland declared a state of emergency today as three Montgomery County residents tested positive for coronavirus, state officials said Thursday evening.

The patients, who contracted the virus while traveling overseas, are in good condition and are isolated in their homes, state officials said. Two of the patients are a couple in their 70s, and the third is a single woman in her 50s. They returned to the U.S. on Feb. 20, officials said.

These cases are the closest yet to Washington, D.C., which has not yet reported any cases. Virginia also has no confirmed cases.

However, AIPAC, which held its policy conference in D.C. earlier this week, warned that a group of attendees made contact with an infected patient before traveling from New York to the event. No one who attended the conference has tested positive for coronavirus yet, AIPAC said Wednesday.

At a news conference Friday, county officials confirmed that the cases were not examples of community spread of the coronavirus. The officials also said that contact investigations were underway and that no large-scale closures were being recommended at this time.

Dr. Travis Gayles, the county health officer and chief of public health services, said the three patients are all "doing well clinically" and that "for the most part, their symptoms have abated."

"That suggests that the severity of the illness, even if it's here, remains in a mild to moderate category," he said.