Colorado, Maryland announce new coronavirus cases

Colorado Gov. Jared Polis said Thursday that two people have tested positive for coronovirus in the state, its first cases in the global outbreak.

The governor announced both cases during a news conference.

The first is a man in his 30s who was visiting from out of state when he checked into a hospital in Frisco, where many of Colorado's ski resorts are located, because of a possible respiratory illness. The man had travelled last month to Italy, the epicenter of the outbreak in Europe.

Health officials in Summit County, where the first case occurred, said the second case was an elderly woman in Douglas County who had also returned to Colorado from international travel. Officials say the two cases are not related.

Meanwhile, the first three cases of the virus have been confirmed in Maryland, prompting Gov. Larry Hogan to declare a state of emergency.

Hogan said the patients contracted the virus while travelling overseas and are in good condition, but his statement didn't say where the three had travelled.

At a news conference, Hogan said the patients are a married couple in their 70s and an unrelated woman in her 50s. They are currently in isolation in their homes in Montgomery County, outside Washington, D.C.