Coronavirus: California declares state of emergency as US death toll climbs
- First US death outside Washington state was elderly California patient who had been on cruise ship in February
- New infections reported in greater Seattle area, New York state and Los Angeles
The death toll from coronavirus infections rose to 11 on Wednesday as new cases emerged around New York City and Los Angeles, while Seattle-area health officials sought to allay anxiety amid the nation’s largest outbreak.
Health officials said the first California death from the virus was an elderly person in Placer County, near Sacramento. He had underlying health problems and was likely exposed on a cruise ship voyage between San Francisco and Mexico last month.
It marked the first coronavirus fatality in the United States outside of Washington state, where 10 people have died in a cluster of at least 39 infections that have emerged through community transmission of the virus in two Seattle-area counties.
Although the Placer County patient who died was not believed to have contracted the virus locally, that case and a previous one from the Bay Area linked to the same ocean liner have led health authorities to seek other cruise passengers who may have had close contact with those two individuals.
Hours after that death was announced, California Governor Gavin Newsom declared a statewide emergency in response to the coronavirus, which he said has resulted in 53 cases across the nation’s most populous state.