A Tennessee man who has been diagnosed with the state’s first case of COVID-19, the disease caused by coronavirus, became sick following a trip to Boston, according to the Tennessee Department of Health.
The man has a mild illness and is isolated at his home in Williamson County, Tennessee, according to a news release posted Thursday afternoon on state health department’s website.
Officials did not reveal exactly when the man became ill, but said he recently traveled on nonstop, round-trip flights between Nashville and Boston, returning to Tennessee “four or five days ago,” Tennessee Department of Health Commissioner Lisa Piercey said at a news conference on Thursday.
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The man did not experience symptoms during his travels, and the news release did not say how he is believed to have contracted the virus.
The Tennessean on Thursday reported that the man is 44 years old and officials have been told that he “may have caught the virus at an out-of-state conference which was also attended by people who had traveled outside of the country.”
Tennessee officials have been in “close contact” with the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, according to the news release.
Massport did not immediately return a request for comment.
This is a breaking news story and will be updated.
Nestor Ramos can be reached at nestor.ramos@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @NestorARamos. Hanna can be reached at hanna.krueger@globe.com. Follow her on twitter @hannaskrueger.