after news of a coronavirus death in Washington state that is the first from the disease in the US, CDC officials are holding a press conference at 12. stay tuned.
CDC director Nancy CDC Director Nancy Messonnier said the three coronavirus cases in Washington include the first reported death, as well as the first case in a health care worker and the first case in a skilled nursing facility.
Some of the Washington cases are related to a long-term care facility called Life Care in Kirkland in King County. One is a woman in her 70s who is a resident there who is in serious condition. Another is a healthcare worker in her 40s who is doing well.
Washington officials say they expect to see more cases related to the long-term care facility.
"One thing that has not changed is that most people in the US will have little immediate risk of exposure to the virus," said CDC Director Nancy Messonnier.
Washington officials say that because of the community spread in the state, they feel the risk has been increased to the general public. If the situation worsens, they may consider closing schools and taking other measures to prevent the spread of the disease, they said.
"We realize this is a dififcult time. We are facing a historic public health challenge," said CDC Director Nancy Messonnier.
"While we still hope for the best, we continue to prepare for this virus to become more widespread in the US," said CDC Director Nancy Messonnier.
King County public health officer Jeff Duchin says they are very concerned about outbreaks in long-term health facilities, because of the large numbers of older patients who are particularly at risk for serious consequences from COVID-19.
"While the overall risks to Americans are low we recognize that these populations of people who are medically fragile would be at higher risk if there is tranmsisison in their communities," said CDC Director Nancy Messonnier.
The patient in Washington who died was not connected to the long-term care facility and officials don't know how the patient became ill. The investigation is ongoing, said Washington officials.
Wow: The long-term care facility in Kirkland linked to COVID-19 has 108 residents and 180 staff members. So far, 27 residents have symptoms as do 25 staff members, according to Washington officials.
The man who died of COVID-19 in Washington was in his 50s and had underlying health conditions.
"If we had the ability to test earlier I'm sure we would’ve been able to identify patients earlier, particularly at hospitals," said Jeff Duchin, King County health officer.
CDC declines to provide updates about California cases in Solano and Santa Clara counties.
"Right now we still judge the general risk to the American public to be low and that includes residents to long-term care facilities," said CDC Director Nancy Messonnier.
