Autopsy reveals eerie detail about when first virus cases occurred
Health officials say two people died with coronavirus in California weeks before the first reported death from the disease in the US.
Santa Clara County officials said on Tuesday, local time, the two people died at home on February 6 and February 17, with the first death in the nation from the virus reported on February 29 in Kirkland, Washington.
The Medical Examiner-Coroner received confirmation this week that tissue samples sent to the US Centres for Disease Control (CDC) and Prevention tested positive for the virus, officials said.
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The announcement came after California Govoner Gavin Newsom promised a “deep dive” update of the state’s ability to test for coronavirus and to track and isolate people who have it.
It’s one of the six indicators he says is key to lifting a “stay-at-home” order that has slowed the spread of the disease, while forcing millions of people to file for unemployment benefits.
“This will go to the obvious questions and queries that all of us are asking: When? ... When do you see a little bit of a release in the valve so that we can let out a little of this pressure,” Mr Newsom said on Tuesday, teasing what he says will be the first of regular weekly updates on the state’s progress toward reopening.
Mr Newsom says the state is testing an average of 14,500 people per day, up from just 2,000 tests per day at the beginning of April.
Still, in a state of nearly 40 million people, that’s not enough for public health officials to know for sure the reach of the highly contagious virus that is still causing outbreaks across the state in nursing homes and homeless shelters.
Mr Newsom said he wants the state to test at least 25,000 people per day by the end of April.
Over the weekend, the California Department of Public Health issued new testing guidance that, for the first time, recommends testing for people in high-risk settings even if they do not have symptoms.
The new advice is aimed at hospitals, jails and homeless shelters — three places where physical distancing is difficult.
California has more than 35,600 confirmed coronavirus cases and 1,300 deaths, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
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