Local
Placer County reports 2nd coronavirus case. ‘Critically ill’ patient was on cruise ship
Find updates to this story here: New patients in Placer, Contra Costa counties; Santa Clara up to 11 in California
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UPDATE
The Placer County patient who tested positive for the coronavirus has died, county officials announced Wednesday morning, a day after that person’s diagnosis was disclosed to the public.
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ORIGINAL STORY
Placer County is declaring a local health emergency after it reported Tuesday night a second confirmed case of the new coronavirus within the county.
The new case involves an “older adult” who was likely exposed to the the virus while overseas on a Princess Cruise line ship that departed from San Francisco to Mexico between February 11 and 22, according to a county press release.
Another coronavirus case in Sonoma County also reportedly originated from the same Grand Princess ship, according to The Press Democrat.
The patient in Placer County is “critically ill” and is in isolation at a local hospital. Close contacts of the patient are being quarantined and monitored, according to a county press release. The county is awaiting confirmation of the results from the Centers for Disease Control.
Where the patient is hospitalized was not released. A county spokesperson was not immediately available for comment.
County officials say the case likely does not represent a case of local community spread, which is when the origin of exposure is unknown.
“We expect to see additional cases in coming days, including cases of community spread, not linked to travel,” said Health Officer Dr. Aimee Sisson in a statement. “We are declaring these emergencies today so we will be able to activate and deploy resources to adequately respond to an increase in cases.”
The county announced Monday its first COVID-19 case, a health care worker at the Vacaville hospital that treated a Solano County woman hospitalized at Sacramento’s UC Davis Medical Center who was the nation’s first confirmed case of the new coronavirus from “exposure in the community,” rather than travel or contact with someone who recently traveled.
That first Placer County individual who tested positive for COVID-19 is currently in home isolation with what Sisson told The Sacramento Bee were “mild symptoms” of the virus.
Declaring a public health emergency allows the county to more effectively respond to COVID-19 and secure more resources, such as utilizing mutual aid, getting increased funding and better coordinating communications to the community.
The county board of supervisors is set to ratify the declaration at a meeting next week.
There are 60 confirmed cases of the new coronavirus in the United States, 15 of which are in California, according to the CDC.
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