Coronavirus
Coronavirusצילום: רויטרס

West Virginia on Tuesday reported its first confirmed case of the novel coronavirus, becoming the final US state to announce that the disease had spread within its borders.

“Our health officials came to me and said we do have our first positive in the Eastern panhandle," West Virginia Gov. Jim Justice said during a news conference, according to The Hill.

“We knew it was coming, we’ve prepared for this and we shouldn’t panic,” he added.

The announcement came as the number of confirmed cases in the United States continued to climb. The country reported more than 5,800 confirmed cases and 101 deaths from the disease as of Tuesday afternoon, according to a database from The New York Times.

Alabama, Idaho, Montana and West Virginia were among the last states to confirm a coronavirus case.

The disease, known as COVID-19, first appeared in the United States in January. Washington was where the first US case of the virus was reported. More than 800 confirmed case of the virus had been reported in the state as of Tuesday evening, the most of any state, noted The Hill.

President Donald Trump on Friday declared a national emergency to help handle the growing outbreak of the novel coronavirus.

Two days earlier he announced that the US would be suspending all travel from Europe. While Britain was initially not included in that directive, it was later added to the list of European countries from which travel was suspended.

A number of state and local officials have already ordered closures of restaurants, bars, schools and other public places in order to mitigate the spread of the virus.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Sunday evening also recommended that Americans cancel gatherings of 50 or more people for the next eight weeks.