Coronavirus cases in California are stoking U.S. fears

DAVIS — Authorities on Friday were dealing with a new coronavirus case in Santa Clara County, heightening concerns that the disease is spreading in the United States.

The new case comes as officials in Northern California are searching for people who might have come in contact with a Solano County woman who is believed to be the country’s first novel coronavirus patient who did not recently travel outside the U.S. or come in contact with someone who did.

Authorities said her case might indicate that the virus is already spreading within the local community, a significant leap, making it essential that they quickly find anyone who might have been exposed to her.

The woman was hospitalized more than a week ago but was not tested for several days because she did not fit screening criteria set by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which include both symptoms of the virus and either a recent history of travel to China or close contact with another coronavirus patient.

In response, Solano County declared a local emergency Thursday because of the virus.

“We are taking this situation seriously and are taking steps necessary to protect the health and safety of Solano County residents,” Dr. Bela Matyas, the county’s health officer, said in a statement. “It is important to recognize that we have moved from containment to mitigation. We are investigating potential exposures and ensuring that proper evaluation and care are provided if they become sick.”

Before she was transferred to the University of California, Davis, the woman was hospitalized for three days at NorthBay VacaValley Hospital in Vacaville, Aimee Brewer, president of NorthBay Healthcare Group, said in a statement.

She was taken by ambulance to the UC Davis facility in Sacramento once her condition worsened, Brewer said.

“As for the patient’s care in NorthBay VacaValley Hospital, at no time did the patient fit the existing CDC criteria for COVID19, and therefore a test was not immediately administered,” she said.

After learning of the diagnosis, the hospital “launched a meticulous tracing” of anyone who might have been in contact with her, Brewer said. The hospital remains open and is operating normally.

UC Davis officials said the woman arrived Feb. 19 but was not tested until Sunday. The hospital said that precautions had been put in place because of caregivers’ concerns about her condition and that a “small number” of employees had been asked to stay home and monitor their temperature.

Sacramento County Director of Health Services Peter Beileson said the woman had been transferred to the hospital under virus containment protocols, but additional measures, such as isolation in a negative pressure room, which prevents air from escaping, were now in place.

Beileson said he did not expect additional cases of the virus based on those in contact with the patient in Sacramento, where she is receiving treatment, but did expect more cases in Solano County, where she is from.

The woman was “in her community” for a number of days before accessing care, California Health and Human Services Secretary Dr. Mark Ghaly said.

Investigators are now working to identify and locate anyone who may have come in contact with the woman. The CDC has sent 10 staffers to help trace her contacts, officials said.

“Contact tracing is super important because it can help reduce transmission,” said Dr. Brandon Brown, an associate professor at the UC Riverside School of Medicine’s Center for Healthy Communities. “The worst case scenario is that outside of close contacts — family, friends and co-workers — there were other people exposed to the virus in places where this person visited.”

The tracing will likely start with the infected patient’s family and co-workers, who would be isolated and tested, and then move out to those who might have come in casual contact with her in places she’s visited within the past two weeks, which is believed to be the incubation period of the virus.

Those more casual contacts would likely be watched for signs of illness and then isolated and tested if they develop symptoms.

“It’s a means of surveillance which is the foundation of modern public health,” Brown said of contact tracing. Because public health officials also don’t know how the woman contracted the virus, it’s also likely they’ll perform contact tracing in an attempt to figure out where she got it from, he said.

In order to identify individuals who came into contact with the woman at the hospital, Northbay officials sifted through medical records to see which clinicians entered her room. Additionally, three days worth of security footage from 8 p.m. Feb. 15 to mid-morning Feb. 19 were scoured to ensure that all visitors and nonclinicians — like workers who brought in food trays or refilled bathroom supplies – were tallied.