EVERETT — The first patient in North America known to be carrying a new Chinese coronavirus remained in isolation at a north Everett hospital Wednesday, in a room with a special air system separated from other patients.

The mysterious virus silently jumped across the Pacific Ocean last week, carried by the Snohomish County resident, a man in his 30s who took a trip to Wuhan, China.

Investigators from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are assessing who came in contact with the man since he left China. An exact itinerary hasn’t been released, but the man made at least one flight connection before arriving at Sea-Tac Airport on Jan. 15. He rode in group transportation to his home, where he lives alone.

“In this case, we don’t believe even if we had active screening at the airport that this patient would have been picked up, because at the time we don’t believe the patient had any symptoms of the fever,” said John Wiesman, the Washington state secretary of health, on Tuesday.

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