A 9th person in Wake County has tested positive for COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus, Wake health officials said Friday night.

The case is related to a cluster of positive patients tested earlier this week from Biogen, a biotechnology company with about 1,400 employees in Research Triangle Park, according to a news release.

On Monday, officials announced that five people in the Triangle had tested positive for COVID-19 after attending the same Biogen corporate conference in Boston last month.

“We are working to quickly establish a timeline of their movements, so we can effectively identify places they visited and determine if anyone was at increased risk of exposure,” Wake County Medical Director Dr. Kim McDonald said in a written statement Friday. “We will reach out to those who came in close contact with this person to assess their condition and take appropriate next steps.”

Officials provided more details Saturday about the case: Based on that person’s activities, Wake County health officials say the greatest potential for exposure occurred:

▪ Feb. 24 and March 2 when the person visited the Biogen facility at 5000 Davis Drive in Research Triangle Park. Health officials are working to identify people who were in close contact.

▪ Feb. 29 when the person did early voting at the Optimist Park Community Center at 5900 Whittier Drive in Raleigh. Wake County Public Health has the names of the elections officials and are working with them to further assess the risk of exposure at this location.

▪ March 2-5 when the person traveled to and returned from Logan International Airport from Raleigh-Durham International Airport. Health officials say that people on a flight determined to be at risk will be contacted shortly.

The latest Wake case brings the state’s total announced cases of COVID-19 to 32 as of Sunday.

Dozens of people around the country who attended the Biogen conference Feb. 24-27 have tested positive for the virus, including an Indiana resident who had spent time at Biogen’s RTP office last week before driving home, Wake officials said Monday.

State Health Director Dr. Elizabeth Tilson emphasized during a press briefing Friday afternoon that none of the cases in North Carolina to that point had been the result of “community transmission,” in which someone becomes infected without traveling or coming into contact with someone known to have the virus. Tilson said all cases in the state are travel-related or the result of known-contact exposure.

As of Friday, there had been 1,629 cases of coronavirus reported in the U.S. and 41 deaths from the disease, according to the CDC. According to The New York Times, COVID-19 has been found in all but three states: Idaho, Montana and West Virginia.

President Donald Trump on Friday declared a national emergency around the coronavirus pandemic, opening the door for the federal government to offer some funding help for state and local governments working to stem the spread of illness. Trump said the declaration would free up as much as $50 billion, according to the Associated Press.

Gov. Roy Cooper declared a state of emergency in North Carolina earlier in the week, making the state eligible for federal emergency funding. Cooper and state health officials also urged people not to congregate in groups of 100 or more, resulting in widespread cancellation of events across the state.

The NHL and NBA have suspended their seasons, and the NCAA and ACC canceled their basketball tournaments. The Masters and other golf tournaments and the Boston Marathon were postponed, and NASCAR has put off upcoming races in Atlanta and Miami.

The Dreamville music festival in Raleigh was postponed from April to August. “Les Miserables” canceled at the Durham Performing Arts Center. And the City of Raleigh announced that all large events planned for its facilities would be canceled or postponed through April 15, effectively shuttering the Raleigh Convention Center and Duke Energy Center for the Performing Arts.

Previous North Carolina cases

The state’s first case on March 3 involved a Wake County man who tested positive. Officials say he was exposed at a long-term care facility in Kirkland, Washington, the site of an outbreak, and then returned to North Carolina.

At the time of his return, he was “not experiencing symptoms” and presented no “identifiable risk” to travelers, according to RDU.

On March 5, a Chatham County man who had traveled to northern Italy, where there’s a COVID-19 outbreak, tested presumptively positive, state health officials said March 6. The man experienced “mild flu-like symptoms” while traveling in northern Italy, but his fever went away, the state said. He flew back to the United States the next day, arriving in RDU via John F. Kennedy International Airport in New York.

The man was a “close contact” to a case in Georgia, the state said, and Georgia health officials contacted their North Carolina counterparts.

On March 11, two more Triangle residents were announced to have tested positive. A Wake County resident is connected to the patient in Indiana.

A Durham County resident tested positive in another state and will remain there until the isolation period is complete, Durham health officials said. They did not say what state the Durham resident is in and said the person did not have close contact with any Durham County residents while exhibiting symptoms, according to a release.

Coronavirus is primarily a respiratory disease, with symptoms similar to seasonal flu. According to the CDC, symptoms of coronavirus include fever, cough and shortness of breath.

People with questions or concerns about COVID-19 can call the state’s phone line at 866-462-3821.

This story was originally published March 13, 2020 at 8:38 PM.