Community COVID Case In Santa Clara County California

[Admin]

California has a second case of community transmission of the coronavirus, a 65-year-old resident of Santa Clara County who has no known history of travel to countries hit hard by the outbreak, people familiar with the case said Friday.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/a-second-case-of-coronavirus-found-through-spread-in-california/2020/02/28/ae53c93a-5a77-11ea-9b35-def5a027d470_story.html?tid=lk_inline_manual_4&itid=lk_inline_manual_4

[Admin]

A second case of coronavirus found through spread in California

 

By 

Lenny Bernstein, 

Lena H. Sun and 

Josh Dawsey 

Feb. 28, 2020 at 5:36 p.m. EST

California has a second case of community transmission of the coronavirus, a 65-year-old resident of Santa Clara County who has no known history of travel to countries hit hard by the outbreak, people familiar with the case said Friday.

There is no known connection between the new patient and anyone else diagnosed with the disease, known as covid-19. On Wednesday, health authorities revealed the nation’s first case of community transmission, a woman in Solano County, California, about 90 miles away.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/a-second-case-of-coronavirus-found-through-spread-in-california/2020/02/28/ae53c93a-5a77-11ea-9b35-def5a027d470_story.html?tid=lk_inline_manual_4&itid=lk_inline_manual_4

[niman]

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

February 28, 2020   

 

For more information contact:   

County of Santa Clara Public Health Communications   

Media Line: (408) 794-0707   

  

   

County of Santa Clara Public Health Department Reports Third Case of COVID-19 

     

News highlights 

·       The third case of COVID-19 in Santa Clara County and  is not related to other cases. 

·       The third case had no known exposure to the virus through travel or close contact with a known infected individual. 

·       Now is the time to prepare for the possibility of widespread community transmission. 

 

SANTA CLARA COUNTY-The County of Santa Clara Public Health Department confirms the third case of COVID-19.  This is the third case to be identified in our County, but is different from the other two cases since this person does not have a travel history nor any known contact with a traveler or infected person.  

 

The individual is an older adult woman with chronic health conditions who was hospitalized for a respiratory illness. Her infectious disease physician contacted the Public Health Department to discuss the case and request testing for the novel coronavirus. The County of Santa Clara Public Health Laboratory received the specimens yesterday and performed the testing. Since receiving the results last night, the department has been working to identify contacts and understand the extent of exposures. 

 

Due to medical privacy requirements and to protect her identity, further information about this case will not be released.  

 

“This new case indicates that there is evidence of community transmission but the extent is still not clear,” said Dr. Sara Cody, Health Officer for Santa Clara County and Director of the County of Santa Clara Public Health Department. “I understand this may be concerning to hear, but this is what we have been preparing for. Now we need to start taking additional actions to slow down the spread of the disease.” 

 

This case is important because it signals that now is the time to change course.  

The public health measures taken so far – isolation, quarantine, contract tracing, and travel restrictions – have helped to slow the spread of the disease. The department will continue to implement these measures and continue to trace close contacts of our cases to protect the health of individuals and our community. 

 

Since the disease is here, an important priority for the department will be to conduct community surveillance to determine the extent of local transmission. Since the County Public Health Laboratory has the ability to run the test, the department can quickly evaluate what is happening in our community. 

 

For individuals, the recommendations are very simple, but very important: 
 

·       Keep your hands clean. It is one of the most important steps you can take to avoid getting sick and spreading germs to others. And always need to cover your cough and stay home when you are sick.   

·       Today, start working on not touching your face because one way viruses spread is when you touch your own mouth, nose or eyes.   

·       Since we know the disease is here, we all need to stay away from people who are sick.  

·       Start thinking about family preparedness, how to take care of sick family while not getting infected. Think about a room to isolate a sick person. 

 

There are practical measures that can help limit spread by reducing exposure in community settings: 

·       Schools: should plan for absenteeism and explore options for tele-learning and enhance surface cleaning. 

·       Businesses: whenever possible, can replace in-person meetings with video or telephone conferences and increase teleworking options and modify absenteeism policies and also enhance surface cleaning. 

 

The County of Santa Clara Public Health Department is working closely with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the State of California Department of Public Health, and other partners as the new coronavirus situation continues to change. Information will be updated as soon as possible on our website: http://sccphd.org/coronavirus    

 

The news conference will be streamed live at on the department’s Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/sccpublichealth/  

 

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About the County of Santa Clara Public Health Department 

The County of Santa Clara Public Health Department focuses on protecting and improving the health of communities through education, promotion of healthy lifestyles, disease and injury prevention, and the promotion of sound health policy. 

 

To learn more about how the Public Health Department serves the people who live, work, study, and play in the County of Santa Clara, please visit our website, sccphd.org, and follow us on Facebook, facebook.com/sccpublichealth. 

 

 

 

 

Public Health Department

County of Santa Clara, Public Health Department

976 Lenzen Avenue, San Jose CA 95126

www.sccphd.org

[niman]

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[Admin]

Media Statement

For Immediate Release
Friday, Feb. 28, 2020

Contact: CDC Media Relations
(404) 639-3286 

CDC Announces Additional COVID-19 Presumptive Positive Cases

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) is aware of four new presumptive positive cases of COVID-19 announced by state public health authorities who are currently conducting investigations.

• California has announced a second possible instance of community spread.
• Oregon has announced its first possible instance of community spread.
• The state of Washington has announced two presumptive cases. One is likely travel related. The other is the state’s first possible instance of community spread. 

Community spread means spread of an illness for which the source of infection is unknown. One previous possible instance of community spread was announced in California on February 26.

The four patients tested positive for the virus that causes COVID-19 in their respective states using the CDC-developed rRT-PCR. They are considered presumptive positive cases pending CDC confirmatory testing. However, CDC and State and local public health authorities are proceeding with public health investigations and response activities as if these were confirmed cases. 

With both confirmed and presumptive positive cases, CDC recommends healthcare providers follow the Interim Infection Prevention and Control Recommendations for Patients with Confirmed Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) or Persons Under Investigation for COVID-19 in Healthcare Settings.

These four cases bring the total number of COVID-19 cases detected through the U.S. public health system to 19.

The federal government has been working closely with state, local, tribal, and territorial partners, as well as public health partners, to respond to this public health threat. Unprecedented, aggressive efforts have been taken to contain the spread and mitigate the impact of this virus. CDC and federal partners have been preparing for the detection of additional instances of person-to-person spread of COVID-19 for weeks. The federal government will continue to respond aggressively to this rapidly evolving situation.

For more information about COVID-19 visit www.cdc.gov/covid19.

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