6 in state now carry new virus from China

Santa Clara, San Benito counties see 3 more cases

Three more people in Northern California have been diagnosed with the new coronavirus, health officials said Sunday, bringing the state’s total confirmed cases of the respiratory illness to six.

The latest patients diagnosed with the virus were a husband and wife in San Benito County and a woman in Santa Clara County. All are being monitored closely while isolated at home and none were sick enough to be hospitalized.

In San Benito County, the husband recently traveled to Wuhan, China, the epicenter of the outbreak, but the wife did not — meaning the virus was transmitted from one person to the other, officials said. Both patients are 57 years old and neither has left home since the husband returned.

Dr. Marty Fenstersheib, San Benito County’s health officer, said in a statement that local officials “continue to monitor the situation closely” to safeguard the health of local residents “and limit the spread of this virus.”

In Santa Clara County, the latest patient is a woman who is not from the United States but came to the country on Jan. 23 to visit family. Her illness is not related to the first case in the county, a man. But both patients had recently traveled from Wuhan, officials said.

After the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed Sunday that a second patient in Santa Clara County tested positive for the virus, county officials were working to identify anyone she may have had contact with, said Dr. Sara Cody, the county’s health officer.

The woman left home only twice since she arrived in the United States, both times to seek medical care. Her family members are also not leaving home and are being supplied with food and other items by county health officials.

Cody said the second case of the illness was not unexpected because of Santa Clara County’s large population and travel habits, and she thinks more cases are likely to come in the county. She told reporters that “spread between close contacts does not increase the risk” to the public at large.

Cody stressed that both patients became ill after coming from China and both took steps to isolate themselves upon arriving in the U.S.

“That’s why I don’t think that these two cases change the risk to the general public,” Cody said. “What would be significant is if we had a case without a history of travel to an area where we know the virus is circulating or without a known close contact.”

County health officials encouraged the public to continue with regular activities while maintaining good hygiene practices. People who are healthy should not be barred from any activities because of their race, country of origin or recent travel, officials said. Those who experience symptoms such as a cough, sore throat or fever should “stay home, practice proper cough etiquette and hand hygiene, and limit their contact with other people,” health officials said.

In Southern California, Los Angeles and Orange counties each had one confirmed case of the virus as of Sunday.

Massachusetts, Arizona and Washington state each have one patient as well. Illinois has two patients, including the first person in the nation affected by humantohuman transmission.

The new coronavirus has sickened 17,205 people in China and about 150 people in two dozen other countries, including the United States. The virus has killed 361 people in China and one person in the Philippines.