BEAUMONT, Texas — Editor's Note: The video above is from earlier reporting on coronavirus testing in Beaumont.
Test results for a patient at Baptist Hospital of Southeast Texas in Beaumont show that he does not have the coronavirus.
The Centers for Disease Control ran tests that confirmed the man who was finally released after being at the Beaumont hospital since Tuesday night does not have the virus, according to a news release from Baptist Hospital. Officials confirmed the test results Saturday, Feb. 8.
The man was tested as a precaution after traveling through Beijing, China, Baptist Hospital emergency medicine physician Dr. Ali Osman told 12News earlier this week.
Beijing is more than 700 miles away from Wuhan where the outbreak is currently centered.
Officials say that the man, who is not being identified due to hospital privacy rules, developed flu-like symptoms shortly after returning from his trip. He went to the hospital around 9:45 p.m. Tuesday.
Since the flu and coronavirus share similar symptoms, the hospital decided to run the necessary tests and quarantine the patient, Dr. Osman said.
Baptist has several pressurized isolation rooms to prevent the spread of highly-contagious viruses.
The hospital worked in tandem with the Beaumont Health Department, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the Texas Department of Health Services.
Dr. Osman told 12News that operations at Baptist were not impacted, and that the threat to the public remains very low.
Two other suspected cases of the virus in Texas turned out to be negative.
There are more than 28,000 cases of the virus reported globally, according to the World Health Organization. Of those cases there have been more than 550 deaths worldwide.
In the U.S. more than 250 people have been tested for coronavirus with only 12 positive cases, the CDC said. About 100 results are still pending on the CDC's website as of Feb. 7.
U.S. officials have warned travelers not travel to China until the virus epidemic is addressed. Many airlines have canceled dozens of flights to China.
Health officials in the U.S. and Texas stress that the seasonal flu is a far more pressing health risk.
The CDC estimates at least 19 million people in the U.S. have experienced flu illnesses this year. About 180,000 people have been hospitalized. There have been an estimated 10,000 deaths including 68 children.
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This is a developing story. We will update with more if and when we receive more confirmed information.
