Possible Coronavirus Case Being Investigated at Philadelphia Charter School

Officials are investigating a possible case of the coronavirus at a school in the East Falls neighborhood of Philadelphia, according to multiple published reports.

Philadelphia health officials are investigating whether an exchange student at the William Penn Charter School contracted the coronavirus.

The school is currently hosting a group of high school-aged students from China (along with a few chaperones) as they study abroad.

School officials say the student was traveling to the Pennsylvania school with a group of 18 high school-aged students earlier this month when they had a connecting flight in Wuhan City, according to a report from 6 ABC. Wuhan City, of course, is the "epicenter" of the outbreak.

The student felt "unwell at the end of last week," according to a letter from the school. The student was treated at a facility in nearby Montgomery County, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports.

Per protocols, the individual was tested for the coronavirus. Samples were sent to the state for testing, according to the Inquirer. The test results are expected later this week.

In the meantime, the child, whose age was not immediately clear, is actually feeling better following their treatment, 6 ABC reports. They do, however, remain in isolation, pending the results of the test.

The risk of exposure to other students and school officials remains very low, officials say. 

A total of five confirmed cases of the disease have been confirmed in the United States so far. Those have been in Washington state, California, Arizona, and Illinois so far. All five patients had recently returned from Wuhan, the CDC tells CNN.

Despite the impacts in China, the CDC maintains that the risk to Americans is low, but since there's still a lot of unknowns about the virus, there has been some public concern.