A man who had been exposed to the novel coronavirus and who was displaying symptoms of the illness reportedly hid this information from the staff at a New York hospital so he could join his expectant wife in the maternity center, Insider reports.

The husband only confessed once his wife started to show symptoms of COVID-19 shortly after giving birth at Strong Memorial Hospital.

It is not yet known whether the husband and wife - or their newborn baby - have been diagnosed with COVID-19, USA Today reports.

"The mother became symptomatic shortly after delivering," UR Medicine spokesman Chip Partner told USA Today. "That's when the significant other admitted his potential exposure and that he was feeling symptomatic."

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Staff in the hospital's maternity ward were made aware of the potential coronavirus exposure. However, they were advised to continue working unless they started displaying symptoms.

According to Partner, one member of staff was symptomatic but ultimately tested negative for the disease. Nevertheless, the incident has sparked a dialogue on better screening methods for visitors to the hospital.

Strong Memorial is part of the campus for the University of Rochester Medical Center, which announced on Monday that from now on temperatures of visitors would be taken and everyone inside the hospital walls would be required to wear surgical masks.

"It was purely an honor system before," Partner told USA Today. "Now, we're adding the temperature check."

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“In keeping with guidelines issued by the Monroe County Department of Public Health, UR Medicine hospitals have implemented a zero-visitation policy to further our efforts to protect patients and staff from the spread of COVID-19,” UR Medicine shared on its website.

New York City is considered the epicenter of the most severe COVID-19 cases in the United States. Per the John Hopkins University Coronavirus Resource Center, there have currently been 1,096 deaths as a result of coronavirus in New York alone - out of a total of 4,081 deaths in the US.

Man allegedly hid coronavirus symptoms to join his wife in New York maternity ward