Coronavirus patient released from Arlington Heights hospital to home isolation

The man in his 70s who had been treated for a coronavirus infection at Northwest Community Hospital in Arlington Heights has been released to home isolation, hospital officials confirmed Thursday.

The man likely was exposed to the virus while on a trip elsewhere in the U.S., Dr. Ngozi Ekize, director of the Illinois Department of Public Health, said Thursday. The man had not traveled internationally nor had close contact with anyone known to have COVID-19, the disease caused by the latest coronavirus.

His wife, also in her 70s, contracted the disease from him, Ezike said.

The man was hospitalized over the weekend. His wife did not require hospitalization but was recovering in isolation at home, where her husband will join her.

Both husband and wife are continuing to recover and doing well, authorities said. They remain under observation by public health officials.

Ekize said this week that home isolation would be the preferred treatment option for coronavirus patients not needing more intensive medical care.

No further information is being released about the couple in order to protect their privacy, officials said.

They are the second couple in Illinois in which the virus spread from one spouse to the other.

The first was a couple from Chicago. The wife contracted the virus during a visit to China and it spread to her husband when she returned home. They were both initially treated at Amita St. Alexius Medical Center in Hoffman Estates because that's where the wife's primary care physician practices.

This first couple progressed to home isolation and were subsequently released from that as well when public health officials determined they were fully recovered and no longer contagious.