On Sunday night, New York health officials confirmed the state's first coronavirus case -- a woman in her late 30s -- who reportedly contracted the virus after she traveled to Iran. Around the same time late Sunday, Washington authorities reported its second death, which is also the second coronavirus casualty in the United States.
King County public health authorities confirmed the second death Sunday evening. The male patient in his 70s with existing health issues, died on Saturday at the Evergreen Health, a medical facility in the Seattle area. The man had been undergoing long-term care prior to his demise. The first coronavirus-related death in the US was also a patient at Evergreen Health: a man in his 50s who had underlying health problems.
The number of people who have died from the virus has now surpassed the 3,000 mark, as China reported 42 more casualties. Over 90 percent of the total number of deaths are in Hubei, the Chinese province where the virus is believed to have originated. But deaths in 10 other countries have also been reported, including over 50 in Iran and more than 30 in Italy.
The virus has probably been spreading undetected for over two months in the state of Washington, where the first US death was reported this weekend. A genetic report indicates the cases are connected through community transmission and that this has been occurring for many weeks, with hundreds more infections possibly happening in the state.
Previously reported cases to include a woman in her 70s at the Life Care Center in Washington, who was seriously ill; a healthcare staff at the same medical center, a woman in her 50s who recently returned from South Korea; a high school student and a man in his 30s in Snohomish County.
Around 27 patients at the LCC and 25 medical workers have exhibited symptoms of the coronavirus, King County public health officer Jeffrey Duchin said Saturday, disclosed.
Four presumptive cases of positive coronavirus infection were made public on Friday evening across the western US, the Center for Disease Control said. Three patients in Oregon and California states were inflicted by unknown means, the CDC bared, while the fourth case was reportedly travel related.
United States Vice President Mike Pence told CNN's Jake Tapper on Sunday that more deaths in the US were possible. "We could have more bad news," Pence said, adding that the American people "should know the risk for the average American remains low." The US has at least 89 confirmed cases of the coronavirus, the CDC and local health officials, said.
Pence said Washington is expanding its current travel bans on Iran to include foreign nationals who had visited the country in the last 14 days. The US will also increase its travel warnings for South Korea and Italy to Level 4 -- the highest level -- to advise US nationals not to travel to specific areas in those nations.
