Growth contagion: California declared a state of emergency due to coronavirus

California has declared a state of emergency because of a coronavirus due to concerns over the possibility of infecting passengers on the Grand Princess cruise ship who are already on land. Writes about it Los Angeles Times.

Photo: Shutterstock

California Governor Gavin Newsome declared a state of emergency due to a new coronavirus after a California male died. He got the virus on a cruise ship.

Authorities are trying to find hundreds of other Californians who landed with the Grand Princess in San Francisco in February after traveling to Mexico. It is necessary to determine whether they could also become infected with the virus.

The same ship, after a subsequent trip to Hawaii, canceled its stop in California and was supposed to return to San Francisco, but it was detained off the coast so that medical personnel could check everyone on board.

Currently, the virus was detected in 12 counties of the state, they infected more than 50 people.

Newsom said he was confident that the state could prevent the spread of the virus by cruise ship passengers who have already returned to California.

“We have the resources,” Newsom said. - We have opportunities. We will contact each representative of the district’s health department, where there is at least one passenger on this cruise ship. ”

Newsom said the state of emergency was designed to help California prepare for and contain coronavirus, allowing state agencies to purchase equipment and services, share patient information, and alleviate restrictions on the use of state-owned facilities.

Pleiser County Public Health officials announced that a patient who had a positive COVID-19 test after returning from a cruise to Mexico died. This man, who was later identified as a 71-year-old Roklin resident, had major health problems, and this was the second confirmed case of COVID-19 in the county. Authorities said close contacts of the patient were quarantined and checked for the disease.

According to officials, the man was likely infected during a trip on the Princess Cruises ship, which sailed on February 10 from San Francisco to Mexico and returned on February 21.

The patient tested positive for coronavirus and was placed in isolation at the Kaiser Permanente Roseville Medical Center.

According to health officials, this person probably had minimal contact with people between returning from a cruise and arriving at the hospital. Ten Kaiser Permanente health workers and five emergency personnel who were exposed before the patient was placed in isolation are now in quarantine.

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According to authorities, none of these 15 workers have symptoms of coronavirus.

The Pleiser County Department of Health is working closely with the Sacramento County Public Health Division and the United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to identify and communicate with other cruise ship passengers.

According to one estimate, more than 50% of the approximately 2500 passengers who traveled from San Francisco to Mexico and back on a cruise ship are Californians, Newsom said.

“We express our deepest condolences to the family and friends of this patient,” said Dr. Amy Sisson. “Despite the fact that we expected new cases, this death is an unfortunate milestone in our efforts to combat the insidious disease.”

“Although most cases of COVID-19 show mild or moderate symptoms, this tragic death underlines the urgent need for us to take additional measures to protect residents,” she added.

Sisson said that the man first had symptoms during the cruise, and upon returning home, he called an ambulance and was taken to hospital, and then examined for COVID-19. On Tuesday, March 3, the test results were positive - the patient died on Wednesday, March 4, in the morning, Sisson said.

“I urge the residents of Pleiser County to be vigilant and take steps to protect themselves,” said Sisson.

She recommended that residents have on hand supplies for two weeks in case they are asked to isolate themselves.

Rocklin fire chief Bill Hack said that when responding to 911 calls, rescue personnel wear face masks and safety glasses until it becomes clear if the person has respiratory symptoms that may indicate COVID-19. Three out of five rescuers who were quarantined in connection with the death of a man from Pleiser County, are the city of Rocklin firefighters.

“Workers are very vigilant, and if someone has symptoms, they know what steps to take,” assured Hack.

Pleiser County asks everyone who has traveled on Princess Cruises to go to quarantine.

The cruise company Princess Cruises said: CDC notified them that among the passengers of their ship were detected cases of coronavirus infection; 62 guests stay on board while checking out.

According to the governor, on Wednesday, March 4, 11 passengers and 10 crew members developed symptoms of coronavirus.

Newsom also commented on the death of one of the passengers.

“Jennifer and I express our deepest condolences to the family and loved ones,” he said. “The state is working with federal officials to track the deceased’s contacts with people who might have been infected to provide treatment and protect public health.”

“This case demonstrates the need to continue partnerships at local, regional and federal levels to identify and slow the spread of this virus. California works around the clock to ensure safety, health and public awareness, ”Newsom added.

Newsom had previously demanded that the Legislative Assembly allot $ 20 million to respond to coronavirus, and announced that the California Department of Health was using its reserves of millions of N95 masks to distribute to coronavirus front-line medical personnel.

Los Angeles County declared a medical emergency on March 4 as the number of coronavirus cases in the county increased to seven, including six new patients. All people were exposed to COVID-19 as a result of close contact with the infected.

Authorities reported that three of the new cases were travelers who visited northern Italy, two were family members who had close contact with an infected person outside the county, and one had work that linked him to travelers.

One patient is hospitalized, the rest are isolated at home.

In addition, the cities of Pasadena and Long Beach have announced public health emergencies associated with the new coronavirus. There are currently no confirmed cases of the virus in any city.

This is because the government has improved testing, which officials warned will lead to the identification of a significant number of new cases.

Los Angeles joins California’s growing counties to take emergency care efforts to improve resource mobilization across institutions and to focus more on the fight against the virus.

Officials urged the public to wash their hands frequently, choose verbal greetings instead of hugs and handshakes, and try to stay six feet (1,8 m) away from strangers.

“We must be prepared. We must protect the well-being of our loved ones and neighbors, ”said Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti.

Officials said they tested more than two dozen people for the presence of COVID-19 before these recent test results returned with a positive result, and confirmed that there were no signs of distribution in the district.

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According to two sources familiar with the report, checking passengers from China and neighboring countries at the Los Angeles International Airport is one of the new cases with a positive result for coronavirus in Los Angeles County.

On Tuesday, March 3, Marin County health officials announced a local emergency, even though there were no cases of coronavirus reported among residents of the county. San Francisco, which has no reported cases, and Orange County, which recorded three cases, declared emergency situations in late February.

This comes amid news of the spread of the virus in the United States, including nine deaths in Washington State, a new quarantine in a suburb of New York, and a warning that more cases are on the horizon.

“I want people to be ready for reality,” said Dr. Robert Redfield, director of CDC. “And at the same time, so that they continue their daily life, but be ready.”

The World Health Organization announced on March 3 that global mortality from coronavirus rose to 3,4%, with over 3000 deaths. So far, mortality is many times higher than mortality from seasonal flu, which is 0,1%. The WHO Director-General said: this is partly because COVID-19 is a new disease and no one is immune to it.

However, health officials said there was still time to slow the spread of the virus.

Authorities say they learned: coronavirus is less transmitted than the flu, which is often transmitted by infected people but has no symptoms.

“There are no vaccines or drugs yet ... that’s why we must do our best to hold him back,” said WHO Director Tedros Adan Gebreisus.

Earlier reports indicated that the death rate from COVID-19 was about 2%. Experts say they suspect that all tests still overestimate the mortality from this disease, because milder cases are mostly not diagnosed. Experts say that in 80% of people, the disease causes only mild symptoms.

More than 50 people in California are infected with this virus, new cases have been reported in Berkeley and Santa Clara, Pleiser and Orange counties.

The city of Berkeley stated that a person who visited the country with an outbreak participated in his case. After returning, this man remained at home in voluntary quarantine.

In Orange County, two cases are pending confirmation by the CDC. According to the Orange County Department of Health, this is a 60-year-old man and a 30-year-old woman who recently traveled to countries with widespread infection.

On Wednesday, March 4, three more cases of coronavirus were announced in Santa Clara County, bringing the total number of cases there to 14, the largest number in the country.

One of them is the person who is currently hospitalized. The source from which he contracted the virus is currently unknown.

California is also speeding up testing of potential coronavirus patients. This more aggressive testing, Newsom said, “could lead to a faster increase in the number of confirmed cases. "This is not necessarily a sign that infection levels are increasing, but our ability to test more people faster leads to better detection of coronavirus."

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Dr. Mike Ryan, who runs the WHO emergency program, spoke out against officials who wanted to “wave the white flag” and surrender in the fight against the disease. According to him, China has taken decisive steps to combat the virus, and now the number of cases there is declining.

Countries such as China and South Korea "have taken very, very strong measures that have affected their economies and populations," Ryan said.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said that a lot is unknown about the virus, including the extent to which people without symptoms can pass it on to others. He said that doctors know that this is happening, but have not yet determined the degree, a key data element that will help make a decision on how to contain it.

Fauchi said that Chinese data is believed to be accurate and the spread of the virus there is slowing down thanks to "draconian" methods that will never be used in the United States, including strict travel restrictions and public gatherings.

“They took social distance to extremes,” he emphasized.

As of the morning of March 5, in the United States, 159 people are infected with coronavirus, 11 people have died from the disease.

Read the latest news and everything you need to know about the outbreak of a new coronavirus from China. ForumDaily special project “Chinese Coronavirus”.

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