The United States is seeing a surge of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases in just a couple of days, reporting its second death.
Two states have been in the hotspot with new confirmed cases of the deadly virus, Washington has reported eight new cases, with the first death related to the disease. Now, health officials race to trace the contacts of these patients to help contain the virus.
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Washington reports two deaths
Washington had reported the first death in the United States. Health experts suspect that the virus has been spreading in Washington for weeks before symptoms in these patients emerged. Genetic analysis shows that the cases are tied through community transmission and has been going on undetected for weeks.
On Mar. 2, the government reported the second death related to the coronavirus, a patient in his 70s residing in the Seattle area. Just like the first death related to COVID-19, the patient has underlying health conditions.
Further, health officials are currently investigating a long-term care facility that might be exposed to the virus, though the death was not linked to the facility. They are investigating 27 patients and 25 staff members at the center who are manifesting symptoms associated with COVID-19. The Life Care Center of Kirkland said new patients, as well as visitors, are now no longer accepted to prevent further spread while everyone in the center is currently under quarantine.
A high school boy from Snohomish County had flu-like symptoms and underwent testing, the student's family said in a statement. He was tested for flu, but tests came back negative, and the student returned to school after being home fever-free for two days. After around five minutes back on the campus, the parents called the boy to come home immediately after the tested positive for coronavirus. "The family did not know their son was being tested for COVID-19... Like most people, they assumed it was the flu. They did all the right things," the health district said.
New York has two new cases
In New York, health officials have reported the state's first coronavirus case, a woman in her 30s who had been on a recent trip to Iran.
The woman had been placed in isolation in her home, and she is in a stable condition.
"We have learned of the 1st positive case of COVID-19 in NY. The patient contracted the virus while in Iran & is isolated," New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo said in a statement.
"There is no reason for undue anxiety—the general risk remains low in NY. We are diligently managing this situation &will provide info as it becomes available," he added.
The patient, though manifesting respiratory symptoms, is not in a serious condition. Gov. Cuomo said there is no reason for undue anxiety, and the general risk remains low in New York.
Now, New York, as reported in another case, is also from Iran. The two confirmed cases in New York are a couple.
Rapid increase worldwide
The cases across the globe have rapidly increased in just a couple of days. The number of confirmed cases in Hubei province, China has also increased for two consecutive days after a period of decline, the World Health Organization (WHO) reports. The WHO is currently investigating and monitoring the situation.
South Korea has reported the highest number of cases outside mainland China, with more than 4,212 confirmed cases. Iran follows with nearly 1,000 cases, and Italy with nearly 1,700 cases. Iran has reported the highest number of deaths outside China, with a death toll of 54, followed by Italy with 34 and South Korea with 22.
The World Health Organization (WHO) has urged countries to develop plans to contain the virus and prevent its rapid spread.
"What we see at the moment are linked epidemics of COVID-19 in several countries, but most cases can still be traced to known contacts or clusters of cases. We do not see evidence as yet that the virus is spreading freely in communities," Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, WHO Director-General, said.
"As long as that's the case, we still have a chance of containing this virus, if robust action is taken to detect cases early, isolate and care for patients and trace contacts. As I said yesterday, there are different scenarios in different countries and different scenarios within the same country. The key to containing this virus is to break the chains of transmission," he added.
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