Doctors Have No Clue Where This New Case of Coronavirus in Northern California Came From
Jose Nino
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ABC7 News reports that a new case of the coronavirus has been detected in Northern California.
The resident contracting this virus apparently has not traveled since the outbreak started.
The CDC stated that the virus could be spreading locally, person-to-person.
“The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has confirmed an infection with the virus that causes COVID-19 in California in a person who reportedly did not have relevant travel history or exposure to another known patient with COVID-19,” the CDC declared in a press release.
The patient resides in Solano County and is currently receiving medical treatment in Sacramento County, according to a report from the California Department of Public Health.
Travis Air Force Base is located in Solano County. However, Americans stationed at this base who are returning from abroad have been subject to quarantines for novel coronavirus screening.
UC Davis Health officials claim that the patient was transferred to their facility from another Northern California hospital on February 19, 2020. The UC Davis team had already been intubated, were on a ventilator, and were given droplet protection orders due to the undiagnosed and suspected viral condition once the patient arrived.
According to UC Davis, their team requested that the CDC conduct testing for COVID-19. However, due to the patient not matching the existing CDC criteria for the virus, the test was not immediately applied
On Sunday, the CDC ordered COVID-19 testing of the patient. The patient was placed under airborne precautions due to concerns of the patient’s condition.
On Wednesday, the CDC confirmed that the patient tested positive.
UC Davis took precautionary measures by asking a small number of employees to stay home and check their temperature.
So far, it is unknown how the patient caught the virus. If the patient contracted it in the United States, it would mark the country’s first case of it spreading here, as opposed to overseas exposure.
“At this time, the patient’s exposure is unknown. It’s possible this could be an instance of community spread of COVID-19, which would be the first time this has happened in the United States. Community spread means spread of an illness for which the source of infection is unknown. It’s also possible, however, that the patient may have been exposed to a returned traveler who was infected,” the CDC detailed in their statement.
The public health system in Northern California caught this case.
The CDC says the federal government is cooperating with the state of California to “contain the spread and mitigate the impact of this virus.”
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