NEW YORK — New York City has identified its first suspected case of the coronavirus in a patient who was in stable condition Saturday night at Bellevue Hospital in Manhattan, city health officials said.

The suspected coronavirus sufferer is a visitor from mainland China in their 40s, city officials said. The patient experienced telltale symptoms including “fever, cough and a runny nose,” said Oxiris Barbot, the city health commissioner.

The patient, who arrived at Bellevue on Friday night, was in the U.S. for about two days before developing symptoms, said Kerry Dierberg, a public health doctor who appeared at a news conference with Barbot and Mayor Bill de Blasio. The person has tested negative for other possible illnesses like flu and the common cold.

Barbot said the patient “is stable and doing well.” Authorities did not identify the patient. The patient was in New York on vacation, was staying at a hotel and has no friends or family in the city, said Freddi Goldstein, de Blasio’s press secretary.

“The patient felt unwell and presented themselves to Bellevue Hospital,” Barbot said. Bellevue is a city-owned hospital, and workers there promptly notified public health officials of the case.

It will likely be Monday before tests performed by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention can determine whether the patient actually has the coronavirus, which can be spread even before symptoms appear.

"I’m afraid because I come from China,” said one Bellevue worker, who said the hospital sent out a mass email informing staff of the suspected case. "It will come here because we have a big Chinese community. But hopefully China will be able to stop it.”

Eight cases of coronavirus have already been confirmed in the United States, almost all which involved patients who recently traveled from China. More than 14,000 cases have been identified worldwide.

The eighth confirmed U.S. case is a Boston man in his 20s who traveled to Wuhan, China.

The epidemic has killed 304 people in China so far, and authorities believe that number will rise dramatically.

Health officials were bracing for cases of coronavirus in New York because of the city’s large population of Chinese immigrants and others who travel to China and may have been exposed to the frightening new virus.

“Every day we are learning more about the ways in which this virus is transmitted and how easily it can be transmitted,” said Barbot.

Coronavirus is “spread by droplets,” and can be transmitted by someone who coughs or sneezes without covering their mouth, Barbot said. As far as doctors know, she said, the illness is typically spread by “extended contact" among people sharing living quarters.

“There can be transmission out of the home, but we are not quite sure yet how easy that might be,” said Barbot. She added: “This is not something you are going to contract on the subway.”

The Bellevue patient has no close family in the city, officials said.

City health officials are ready if the Bellevue patient is found to have the illness. “We are going to work immediately to keep all New Yorkers safe,” de Blasio said. He said the city “has the strongest public health apparatus in the nation.”

Public health investigators will work to determine who the Bellevue patient was in contact with and whether those people also have the illness, de Blasio said.

Since news of coronavirus hit last month, the FDNY has established a protocol for handling suspected cases.

If they are responding to a call in which either the 911 caller fears they have the coronavirus or have symptoms similar to the virus, first responders put on protective equipment and send word about the case to other participating agencies as they transport the patient to the hospital.

City officials have no figures on 911 calls about suspected cases of coronavirus, since most of them would just be simply people feeling ill.

Paramedics have been instructed to ask suspected patients if they have recently traveled to China or have had contact with anyone who has, officials said.

Coronavirus can be deadly — but most people who contract it suffer only mild symptoms or no symptoms at all.