Washington state man becomes first U.S. coronavirus fatality
(Reuters) - A Washington state man in his 50s with underlying health issues became the United States’ first fatality from the coronavirus, officials said yesterday, as the Trump administration stepped up efforts to combat the spread of the global outbreak.
The patient, who was chronically ill prior to contracting COVID-19, died at EvergreenHealth Hospital in Kirkland, near Seattle, and officials are unsure how he was exposed to the virus, said Jeffrey Duchin, head of the Washington health department’s communicable disease unit.
The state has recorded two other “presumptive” coronavirus cases at a long-term care facility in Kirkland where more than 50 residents and staff could be showing symptoms, he said.
“At this point we do not have widespread communitywide transmission locally. We have transmission that’s associated with an outbreak at this long-term care facility,” Duchin said.
The two cases at the Kirkland facility were a health care worker in her 40s who is in satisfactory condition, and a woman in her 70s who lived there and is in serious condition.
“It is a sad day as we learn a Washingtonian has died from COVID-19. Our hearts go out to his family and friends,” the state’s governor, Jay Inslee, said in a statement. “We are strengthening our preparedness and response efforts to keep Washingtonians healthy, safe and informed.”
The first U.S. coronavirus death capped a week of stock market upheaval and escalating concern among state and federal health officials as the virus has spread across 46 countries and infected more than 60 people in the United States.
GREENVILLE, S.C., (Reuters) - An outpouring of black voter support propelled Joe Biden to a convincing projected victory in South Carolina’s Democratic primary yesterday, resurrecting his faltering White House bid and giving the former vice president a chance to present himself as the moderate alternative to front-runner Bernie Sanders.
Television networks and Edison Research, which conducted exit polls, projected Biden as the winner as soon as voting closed in the Southern state, while U.S. Senator Sanders of Vermont appeared headed to a distant second-place finish.
Exit polls showed the former vice president beating Sanders among a broad range of demographic and ideological groups, including those who identified themselves as “very liberal.”
With 30% of the precincts reporting, Biden had 52% of the vote to Sanders’ 18%. Billionaire activist Tom Steyer had 12% and all of the other contenders were well behind with single digits.
The win gives Biden a burst of momentum as the Democratic race to find a challenger to Republican President Donald Trump broadens quickly, with Super Tuesday primaries in 14 states in three days that will award one-third of the available national delegates.
The commanding margin will allow Biden, vice president under former President Barack Obama, to argue he is the most electable moderate alternative to Sanders, a democratic socialist whose surging campaign has rattled a Democratic establishment worried he is too far left to beat Trump in November.
It will also raise questions about the continued viability of most of the other contenders. Pete Buttigieg, Elizabeth Warren and Amy Klobuchar all were projected to finish well out of the running, with dwindling chances to mount a comeback.