First U.S. virus death reported
Health officials say Santa Clara County cases now up to 4; Trump tightens travel restrictions
The coronavirus’ deadly spread across the globe took an ominous turn Saturday, with the United States recording its first death and a Seattle-area long-term health care facility scrambling to contain the first cluster of infections among patients and their caregivers.
The developments are troubling news for the Bay Area, where on Friday a Santa Clara County woman became the second person in Northern California to be hospitalized for the illness without any of the previous risk factors connected to the virus’ origin in China.
And on Saturday, health officials here announced another new infection — in a woman who lived in the same home as the sick Santa Clara County resident. The second woman did not have symptoms. Her positive test brought the number of cases in Santa Clara County to four overall since the virus first showed up in the Bay Area a month ago.
“We expect more cases of COVID-19 (coronavirus) in our county and have been preparing for community transmission,” said Marianna Moles of the Santa Clara County Public Health Department.
The first coronavirus death in the U.S. — a Seattle-area man — was not related to the outbreak at the long-term care facility there. The Washington state man in his 50s had underlying health problems, health officials said Saturday.
“Right now, we still judge the general risk to the American public to be low, and that includes residents of long-term care facilities,” Dr. Nancy Messonnier, director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, said at a news briefing Saturday.
“But those who are older and medically fragile are at higher risk if it spreads,” she warned.
Saturday’s developments came as the Trump administration announced new travel warnings and restrictions meant to limit the spread of the virus. Vice President Mike Pence said the administration has raised to the highest level warnings not to visit areas of South Korea and Italy where many cases have been reported, and he announced new screen
ings for travelers coming from those countries. It also has banned foreign citizens who have visited Iran within 14 days from entering the United States.
President Donald Trump sought to reassure people anxious about the virus.
“Additional cases in the United States are likely, but healthy individuals should be able to fully recover,” Trump said, flanked by Pence and members of a task force set up to address the virus at a White House news conference. “Healthy people, if you’re healthy you’ll probably go through a process and you’ll be fine.”
The virus appears to be spreading, especially in metropolitan areas along the West Coast.
In Oregon, health officials late Friday reported their own coronavirus case of unknown origin. It involves a Lake Oswego elementary school employee, according to The Oregonian newspaper. The school has been closed.
The cluster of cases in Washington occurred at the Life Care Center of Kirkland, which provides skilled nursing care and rehabilitation, according to Dr. Jeff Duchin, health officer for Public Health Seattle & King County.
One patient, a health care worker at the facility, is hospitalized in satisfactory condition. The second, a facility resident in their 70s, is in serious condition.
In addition, 27 of the facility’s 108 residents and 25 of 180 staffers have symptoms, according to Duchin.
The burst of new cases illustrates the power of the virus to jump into vulnerable populations.
People at health care facilities are at elevated risk because they share air, space, food and equipment — so they also share pathogens, such as viruses. They also are sicker, so they are more vulnerable to infection.
“We are very concerned about an outbreak in a setting where there are many older people, as we would be wherever people who are susceptible might be gathering,” Duchin said.
Special precautions should be taken by older adults and people with underlying health conditions like lung or heart disease, he added.
The Santa Clara County woman whose case was announced Friday had preexisting health care problems but no known exposure to the coronavirus either through travel overseas or another infected person. She reportedly is receiving care at Mountain View’s El Camino Hospital. A test for the virus in a housemate determined Saturday that she was positive even without symptoms.
Last week, a Solano County patient — also with no known risk factors — was hospitalized with coronavirus at UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento.
In Santa Clara County, “since the disease is here, an important priority for the department will be to conduct community surveillance to determine the extent of local spread,” said Moles. Experts will use the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s flu surveillance network, which monitors flu illnesses and hospitalizations.
Until recently, testing has been limited because of problems with the CDC test, which are now being corrected. It was the only test that had been cleared by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
The dead Seattle man’s infection was detected only recently because he was not eligible for testing under the CDC’S original criteria, Duchin said. He was tested after the criteria were expanded and updated Thursday.
But eight public health labs in California — including Santa Clara and Alameda counties — now have the ability to test for coronavirus, so results will be quicker. This is important, because it more promptly alerts health workers, friends, family members and people in the community who may have been exposed.
The CDC now has enough tests for 75,000 Americans.
Globally, there are more than 85,000 cases in 53 countries, with Mexico and San Marino reporting cases for the first time Friday, according to the World Health Organization.
The sudden ignition of the virus among citizens of Italy, South Korea and Iran reveals the need for Americans to plan for preparations to reduce its deadly toll, said Messonnier.
“If it gains a foothold in the U.S., communities may need to take local actions to respond,” she said. “What that action looks like will vary. What is appropriate for one community won’t necessarily be appropriate for another.
“Think about what you might do,” she said. “Not that you must take those measures, but have those conversations in advance — so if you do need to act, you are ready to.”