- A man in his 70s died of the novel coronavirus in Washington state on Saturday – the second COVID-19 death on US soil.
- King County public-health officials reported the death Sunday.
- The US’s first coronavirus death, a man in his 50s, was also in Washington.
- Washington has confirmed 13 cases of the disease COVID-19 so far, including the two deaths.
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Two patients in Washington’s King County have died of the novel coronavirus – the first two COVID-19 deaths on US soil.
King County public-health officials confirmed the second death Sunday evening. The patient was a man in his 70s with underlying health problems. The man was a resident of a long-term care facility called Life Care Center in King County. He died Saturday at EvergreenHealth, a hospital in the Seattle area.
The first coronavirus death on US soil was also a patient at EvergreenHealth: a man in his 50s who had chronic underlying health issues.
Washington has confirmed 13 cases of the virus, including the two deaths.
Snohomish County, directly north of King County, reported a new case at an EvergreenHealth on Sunday: a man in his 40s in critical condition.
King County health officials also announced five new cases Sunday, including three patients at EvergreenHealth. All three patients - a woman in her 80s, a woman in her 90s, and a man in his 70s - have underlying health problems and are also residents of the Life Care Center.
The other two cases reported Sunday were not related to the long-term care facility. The patients, both men in their 60s, are in critical condition.
Previously reported cases in Washington are a woman in her 70s at the Life Care Center who is in serious condition, a healthcare worker at the Life Care Center, a woman in her 50s who recently returned from South Korea, a high-school student in Snohomish County, and a man in his 30s in Snohomish County.
Approximately 27 residents at the Life Care Center and 25 staff members have shown symptoms of the virus, the King County public-health officer Jeffrey Duchin said Saturday.
On Saturday, Gov. Jay Inslee of Washington said the Washington State Department of Health, the state's Emergency Management Division, and "local community health partners" were working to strengthen the state's "preparedness and response efforts."
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Saturday said that the risk to the US public remained low but that the agency might recommend canceling large public events in Washington state if the virus were to spread further there.
"In all likelihood, there is ongoing low-level transmission" in Washington, Francis Riedo, an infectious-disease specialist at EvergreenHealth, said at a press conference on Saturday.
In total, the US has more than 80 confirmed coronavirus cases, most of them people who were repatriated from the Diamond Princess cruise ship.
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