West Coast States Report Additional COVID-19 Cases

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) announced it has become aware of (4) new presumptive positive cases of COVID-19 disease in California, Oregon, and Washington.

The four patients tested positive for the virus that causes COVID-19 in their respective states using the CDC-developed rRT-PCR.

These cases bring the total number of COVID-19 disease cases detected through the U.S. public health system to (19) during 2020.

Announced by state public health authorities on February 28, 2020, the following updates were published by the CDC:

• California has announced a 2nd possible instance of community-spread. A previous possible instance of community spread was announced in California on February 26th.
• Oregon has announced its 1st possible instance of community-spread.
• Washington has announced (2) presumptive COVID-19 cases. One is likely travel-related. The other is the state’s 1st possible instance of community spread.

The CDC explains the term ‘community-spread’ means the spread of an illness for which the source of infection is unknown.

State-based test results 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.

The US federal government says it ‘has been working closely with state, local, tribal, and territorial partners, as well as public health partners, to respond to this public health threat.’

And, ‘unprecedented, aggressive efforts have been taken to contain the spread and mitigate the impact of this virus.’

Dr. Nancy Messonnier, director of the CDC National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, said during a February 27, 2020, telebriefing, 'US states can now begin testing for COVID-19 disease using CDC test kits that employ just 2 reagents ... instead of 3.’

And, Dr. Messonnier clarified that (6) influenza surveillance sites will begin testing for COVID-19, in an effort to cast a wider net for people infected with the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2.

The CDC and federal partners have been preparing for the detection of additional instances of person-to-person spread of COVID-19 for weeks.

The US federal government will continue to respond aggressively to this rapidly evolving situation.

SARS-CoV-2 outbreak news published by Coronavirus Today.