Washington has reported 37 deaths. The first — a man in his 50s who had chronic underlying health issues — was reported February 29 at EvergreenHealth, a hospital in Kings County, Washington.
Two of the Washington patients died February 26, but their diagnoses were confirmed posthumously on March 10, making them the earliest known coronavirus fatalities in the US.
California’s four deaths included a woman in her 60s in Santa Clara County, a woman who was treated at Kaiser Permanente in Placer County, and a woman in her 90s from Sacramento County.
Florida’s three were in Lee County, Santa Rosa County, and Orange County.
New Jersey announced its first death on Tuesday: a man in his 60s.
South Dakota confirmed its first death on Tuesday as well, also a man in his 60s, though the exact cause of death has yet to be confirmed.
Georgia and Kansas both recorded their first death on Thursday.
Colorado also announced its first death on Friday in El Paso County.
One person who died in California was likely exposed to the coronavirus on the Grand Princess cruise ship. That passenger had disembarked, but at least 21 people who were on board in early March tested positive.
The ship has unloaded passengers at the Port of Oakland. Sixty-two people on board had been on the last voyage with the person who died in California.
Two passengers and 19 crew members have tested positive, but it is still unclear how many of those people are from the US, so they do not yet factor into the country’s total number of cases.
The healthy US passengers will be quarantined for 14 days at military bases in California, Texas, or Georgia. Crew members — including some who tested positive — are staying on the ship.
Washington has confirmed 569 cases of the virus and 37 deaths. More than 50 residents of a nursing facility in King County have tested positive.
Nineteen of the Washington deaths are linked to the long-term care facility, called Life Care Center.
Most of the cases in Washington have occurred in King, Snohomish, Spokane, and Pierce counties, as well as several others.
Washington Gov. Jay Inslee declared a state of emergency on February 29. On Wednesday, he banned gatherings of more than 250 people.
California has confirmed 299 cases and five deaths.
Of the state’s cases, 79 are in Santa Clara County, and Los Angeles County has more than 40, including two medical professionals who screened passengers at Los Angeles International Airport.
The Los Angeles County Department of Public Health confirmed its first coronavirus-related death on Wednesday — a woman over 60 with underlying health issues. There was also a new case in Pasadena.
Santa Clara, Placer, and Sacramento counties have also reported one death each.
California declared a state of emergency on March 4.
The other cases in California were either passengers on the Diamond Princess cruise ship that was quarantined in Japan or evacuees from Wuhan.
In total, the US coronavirus case count includes 46 cases among passengers who had been on the Diamond Princess.
Japanese authorities imposed a 14-day quarantine on that cruise ship last month after a person tested positive for the coronavirus, but at least 700 people wound up with COVID-19.
More than 300 Americans who were on the ship were flown back to the US. On the evacuation flight, 14 citizens who had tested positive for the virus flew in an isolation box, while others who’d been on the ship sat in a separate area. More than 30 others got sick.
The infected passengers from the cruise ship were taken to the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha, Nebraska and to the Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center in Spokane, Washington. Passengers who tested negative were quarantined at two US military bases: the Travis Air Force Base in Fairfield, California, and the Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas. Most have been released.
Three evacuees from Wuhan also tested positive for the coronavirus.
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