Update 1/31/2020: Three D.C. residents have tested negative for coronavirus, the D.C. Department of Health announced Friday. Results from one patient remain pending.

Original:

The D.C. Department of Health issued notice that as of Tuesday, one person in the District has tested negative and two people are still undergoing testing after showing symptoms of a novel coronavirus that began spreading in China last December.

The virus is a new strain that had never been known to infect humans, per the D.C. DOH. While it’s still too soon to be able to definitively list symptoms of the virus, they include fever, cough, sore throat, and shortness of breath. The SARS virus is a relative of this new coronavirus, though it causes more severe respiratory symptoms and appears to have a higher mortality rate.

One person in Northern Virginia and one person in Maryland are also being tested for the new coronavirus. Three more people, one in the District and three in Virginia, have tested negative for the virus after displaying symptoms.

The virus apparently originated in Wuhan, China at a “wet market,” a type of market where meat, produce, and live animals are sold.  Authorities believe the virus originally was originally transmitted to humans through infected animals at this market, though it appears to be passing person to person now. It’s not known exactly how the virus is passed, though with other coronaviruses, it’s transmitted via droplets that enter the air when an infected person coughs or sneezes.

The virus is not believed to be spreading in the United States, though there have been five confirmed cases here. There have been 106 deaths from the coronavirus, and 4,515 cases have been confirmed in China as of January 27. Dulles International Airport is among 20 airports screening passengers in an effort to keep the disease from spreading.