5 more Iowa residents test positive for novel coronavirus

DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) - Five more eastern Iowa residents have tested positive for new coronavirus, health officials announced Tuesday evening.

Officials said in a news release that all of the new cases are Johnson County resident who had recently traveled on an Egyptian cruise. The new cases bring the total number of Iowa infections to 13. The release said 14 other tests have come back negative.

Officials announced Iowa's first COVID-19 cases on Sunday, as three individuals from Johnson County who had been on the cruise tested positive for the virus. On Monday, four more Iowans who were on the cruise tested positive. All of those cases involve people between 61 and 80 years old.

Another person - a Council Bluffs restaurant worker who had recently traveled to California - has also tested positive for the illness. All of those infected in Iowa are recovering at their homes in isolation.

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 mainland China, where the virus first exploded, more than 80,000 people have been diagnosed and more than 58,000 have so far recovered."

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