After several days of keeping silent about the medical centers where the infected went, this Tuesday the Department of Health of Santa Clara County confirmed that the first patient who contracted the virus after traveling to Wuhan, China, sought medical attention at the Good Samaritan Hospital in San Jose.
–
Health officials revealed that as a result of this event at least five employees of the hospital were exposed to the coronavirus, so they were placed in a home quarantine until February 11 to protect the community and prevent the possible spread of the virus.
–
On the other hand, San Benito County Health and Human Services Agency He indicated that the two cases that reported the weekend presented health complications on Sunday night and had to be transferred to the University of California Medical Center in San Francisco to receive medical attention.
–
“It was determined that both patients needed to be admitted to a hospital equipped for higher level health care. The patients were transferred out of San Benito County in a special ambulance, ”said Dr. Marty Fenstersheib of the local Department of Health.
–
California, the state with the most cases
Last Sunday the health authorities of the counties of San Benito and Santa Clara, in northern California, reported the contagion of three new patients that were confirmed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC, for its acronym in English). Two days earlier, on Friday, the first case was reported in the Bay Area that corresponded to a man who returned from Wuhan, China, via the San Jose International Airport.
–
The two most recent cases in the state, which are now known to be admitted to a San Francisco hospital, represent the second time that the virus is transmitted from person to person in the United States. This is a couple from San Benito County where, according to health officials, the husband recently traveled to China, and when he returned, he infected his wife.
–
The Department of Health of Santa Clara County said the second case in the Bay Area corresponds to a woman who is visiting relatives living in the region. The little information that was shared about it details that the patient arrived in the county on January 23 and since then left her home twice to seek medical assistance.
–
Health officials explained that the patient was never sick enough to be hospitalized and that she and the family members she is staying with remain isolated and monitored by local authorities.
–
At the moment it is known that the two cases of Santa Clara County are not linked, but they share certain characteristics in common: the two were in Wuhan, the Chinese city epicenter of the outbreak; they have remained in a self-imposed quarantine, and went to two health centers for help.
–
Southern California
Both patients were visiting Wuhan, began to experience symptoms upon return and sought help from local health authorities. Unlike the rest of the infections, those from Southern California were hospitalized as a preventive measure, but they are stable.
–
As a mandatory protocol, public health officials are working to identify people who may have “had close personal contact with these people, including friends, family or health professionals, to monitor them for signs and symptoms of disease and take measures to prevent the spread of the virus, “they said in a statement.
–
For its part, the State Department of Health indicated that it works closely and in coordination with experts from the CDC and other local authorities to deal with contagion.
–
“The new coronavirus is a serious concern for public health authorities, however, the risk to the general public in California remains low. For now we have only had a case of infection from person to person and it was from an infected patient to his wife. Both are in stable condition, ”said Sonia Angell, director of the California Department of Public Health.
–
Entry Restrictions
The Chinese government updated Monday the numbers of those affected by the outbreak of Wuhan’s coronavirus and indicated that the number of deaths rose to 426, while confirmed cases exceed 20,000.
–
According to the Department of Homeland Security (DHS), U.S. citizens traveling to Hubei Province, where Wuhan is located, will be subject to 14 days of mandatory quarantine, while U.S. citizens who have been in other parts of China will undergo a health examination at the airport and could be subjected to 14 days of home quarantine.
–
With the exception of people visiting direct family members in the United States, as well as permanent US residents and crew members, all other passengers from China arriving at the Los Angeles and San Francisco airports are will deny entry to the country.
–
For days, DHS reported that the LAX and SFO air terminals are among the 11 airports in the United States to which all flights from China will be diverted, so the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) has established Improved inspection protocols at those airports and has the ability to quarantine passengers if necessary.
–
