U.S. Coronavirus Outbreak Widens
Rhode Island confirms its first case of the virus, while number of cases in King County, Wash., rises to six
As the number of confirmed novel coronavirus cases in the U.S. continued to rise, with two new cases in Washington and the first likely positive test in Rhode Island, Trump administration officials stressed that the government is ramping up efforts to test for and fight the outbreak, which they said is certain to spread to more Americans.
Two additional people tested positive for the novel coronavirus in Washington state on Sunday, local health officials said, raising the number of confirmed cases in King County to six, including the first patient death in the U.S.
Both new patients are men in their 60s with underlying health conditions, with one in critical condition. The number of confirmed diagnoses in the county is expected to rise as more people are tested, local health officials said.
On Friday night, a man in his 50s, with underlying health conditions, became the first death in the U.S. related to the new virus. The man, who didn’t have any travel history to areas where the virus was circulating, died at Evergreen Health Medical Center in Kirkland, Wash., located in King County, after test results confirmed he had novel coronavirus, according to a letter from the EvergreenHealth health-care system.
Two other King County patients are both associated with a long-term care facility called Life Care Center in Kirkland. One of those patients, a woman in her 40s currently in good condition, is the first health-care provider in the U.S. diagnosed with the infection, the CDC said on Saturday.
The other patient associated with the facility is a woman in her 70s in serious condition. Health officials warned of a potential outbreak in the facility and said that an additional 27 residents and 25 staff are experiencing symptoms.
As the number of cases rises, state, local and federal officials are working to prepare for more possible infections and community spread.
President Trump said on Twitter Sunday that travelers from high-risk countries or areas will be screened for the virus both before boarding and when they arrive in the U.S.
On Saturday, Vice President Mike Pence, head of the government’s task force on the virus, said the U.S. will bar foreign nationals who have traveled to Iran in the past 14 days. The government is also strongly advising people against travel to areas in Italy and South Korea that are affected by the virus and has asked those countries to ensure adequate screening of travelers to the U.S.
In response to a reporter’s question Saturday, Mr. Trump said the U.S. is also considering restrictions at the Mexican border. Mexico has confirmed two cases of the virus, both of which are travel related.
During Saturday’s hastily arranged White House news conference, the president and other officials sought to project confidence in how the U.S. is handling the situation, which has sent markets tumbling. “This too will end,” the president said.
Robert Redfield, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said, “The risk is low. We need to get on with our normal lives.”
The number of cases in the U.S. was expected to rise after the Food and Drug Administration on Saturday said it would let some 300 to 400 academic-hospital labs to begin testing for the virus, allowing for checks of thousands of people rather than the few hundred already tested.
Until that announcement, there were relatively few diagnostic tests conducted in the U.S., with most state and local health departments sending patient samples to the CDC and waiting days for results. Even those initially had some accuracy problems, though the CDC has said those problems have been remedied.
Washington state started testing patient samples locally on Friday, officials said, which contributed to a quick uptick of reported cases in the region.
At least 25 people have been diagnosed with the novel infection within the U.S., not including repatriated Americans. On Sunday, Rhode Island confirmed its first case. The Rhode Island patient is a man in his 40s who had traveled to Italy, France and Spain in mid-February, said Dr. Nicole Alexander-Scott, director of the state Department of Health.
Officials said they are working closely with the hospital where the individual is being treated and extensive efforts are under way to reach anyone the person has had contact with since returning to the U.S. But state officials stressed that they aren’t seeing widespread community transmission and that the risk to the general public remains low.
“The risk here in Rhode Island, at this point, is low, and we have been preparing for weeks,” Gov. Gina Raimondo said. “There’s no need to panic.”
Earlier in the weekend, California, Illinois and Oregon also reported new cases of the virus. Many of them were patients who currently have no clear path of exposure, signaling that there might be wider spread of the novel coronavirus in some American communities.
The patients were tested following a change in the CDC guideline, which the agency expanded on Thursday to include people with recent travel history to Japan, Italy, Iran and South Korea as well as people with severe respiratory illnesses and a fever without a clear cause of infection.
The agency expanded the guideline after a patient in California wasn’t tested right away because the woman didn’t meet the stricter guidelines but ended up testing positive.
So far, roughly 80% of the cases are mild, with the most common symptoms being a fever and a dry cough. Many patients recover within a few weeks. But the rapidly spreading virus can also be deadly, especially among older adults and those with underlying health conditions, such as chronic cardiac disease, lung disease and diabetes.
Federal health officials said that the overall risk to the general public in the U.S. is still low, though the risk is rising in some areas and is higher for certain groups. People can protect themselves and their communities by taking steps such as frequent handwashing, avoiding contact with people who are sick and staying home if they develop symptoms, health authorities say.
Mr. Trump is scheduled to meet Monday with pharmaceutical companies as work continues on a vaccination.
“We are facing a historic public health challenge,” Nancy Messonnier, director of the CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, said on a press call Saturday. “While we still hope for the best, we continue to prepare for this virus to become more widespread in the United States.”