This article is from the source 'nytimes' and was first published or seen on . It last changed over 40 days ago and won't be checked again for changes.

You can find the current article at its original source at https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/29/us/coronavirus-washington-death.html

The article has changed 35 times. There is an RSS feed of changes available.

Version 3 Version 4
Trump Moves to Calm Fears as First U.S. Death From Coronavirus Is Reported Washington State Declares Emergency Amid Coronavirus Death, Illnesses at Nursing Facility
(about 4 hours later)
WASHINGTON — Hours after officials confirmed the first death in the country from the coronavirus, President Trump on Saturday moved to calm public fears and demonstrate aggressive action against the illness, including by issuing new travel restrictions. SEATTLE — Concerns about the coronavirus intensified across the Pacific Northwest on Saturday, after a person from the Seattle area died and as two new cases emerged inside a nursing care facility in Kirkland, Wash., where dozens of other people were reported to be feeling sick.
Presiding over an abruptly announced news conference in the White House briefing room and flanked by top public health officials, Mr. Trump warned that additional coronavirus cases in the United States are “likely,” but added that “healthy individuals should be able to fully recover.” Gov. Jay Inslee of Washington declared a state of emergency, and said officials were considering canceling sporting events, closing schools and taking any other steps needed to slow the spread of the virus. “If — and this is a big if — there is a social distancing strategy that becomes necessary, the emergency declaration would give us some legal authority,” he said.
He appealed to “the media and politicians and everybody else involved not do anything to incite a panic, because there’s no reason to panic at all.” At two schools that have had ties to cases, in Oregon and Washington, officials announced that they were shuttering buildings for several days, and ordering deep cleanings.
“Our country is prepared for any circumstance,” Mr. Trump added. “We hope it’s not going to be a major circumstance, it’ll be a smaller circumstance. But whatever the circumstances, we’re prepared.” And in Kirkland, where a health care worker in her 40s at the Life Care Center, a long-term nursing facility, and a resident of the center, in her 70s, were reported on Saturday to have tested positive for the virus, health officials expressed alarm at the possibility of more cases. Among 288 residents and workers at Life Care, more than 50 people — 25 health workers and 27 residents — have shown symptoms of respiratory illness or have been hospitalized for pneumonia, local health officials said.
Joining Mr. Trump at the briefing, Vice President Mike Pence announced that the administration was issuing its highest-level warning, known as a “do not travel” warning, for areas of Italy and South Korea most affected by the virus. Mr. Pence said the United States was also banning all travel from Iran, and barring entry to any foreign citizen who has visited that country in the last 14 days. “We are very concerned about an outbreak in a setting where there are many older people,” said Dr. Jeff Duchin, the health officer for Public Health Seattle & King County. A team of federal health workers was dispatched to Kirkland to assist local workers, and many more coronavirus tests were expected to be conducted in the coming days.
In response to a question, Mr. Trump also said he was “very strongly” considering new travel restrictions along America’s southern border to contain the coronavirus. But he later seemed to walk back the possibility, saying “this is not a border that seems to be much of a problem right now.” Older people are much more likely to face serious illness if infected with the coronavirus. They are also much more likely to die. An analysis of Chinese patients found that nearly 15 percent of infected people over age 80 died; of those in their 70s, 8 percent died.
On Saturday afternoon, workers in plastic protective gear and masks could be seen rolling a patient, also in a mask, to an ambulance outside the center, a low slung building on a side street tucked among small condo complexes and surrounded by pine trees. Officials said that testing for the virus was being done at a local hospital, and that the facility was not open for visits from patients’ family members or vendors as a precaution.
Updated Feb. 29, 2020Updated Feb. 29, 2020
He also disputed claims that he had referred to the coronavirus as a “hoax” during a Friday night political rally in South Carolina. “The ‘hoax’ was used with respect to Democrats and what they were saying,” Mr. Trump said. At the rally, the president had said of Democrats: “This is their new hoax,” drawing swift condemnation from his political rivals. Nancy Butner, the northwest divisional vice president for Life Care Centers of America, said that many of the residents were showing only respiratory symptoms that were not necessarily tied to the coronavirus. In an interview, she said that residents were mostly staying in their rooms and that despite public health officials warnings of a possible “outbreak” at the facility, the mood inside was relaxed.
In the Northwest, especially, health officials were putting in place new precautions. “We are encouraging people to remain in their rooms,” she said. “We have the equipment and supplies to take care of them, and people are doing what they need to do.”
The person who died had been a patient at EvergreenHealth hospital in Kirkland, Wash., according to its spokeswoman. In a news conference, Mr. Trump described the person as a “medically high risk” woman in her late 50s. Dr. Robert R. Redfield, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said there was no evidence that the patient had traveled recently or had contact with someone known to have the virus, adding to growing signs that the virus may be spreading in the United States. Chad Bergevin, who lives across the street from the center, said he had learned of the situation in a text message from a neighbor. “It was like, ‘Wow, this is literally less than a football field away from my house,’” he said, adding that he was surprised to see people still seeming to come and go, near the center. “I’m sorry, if it were me, I’d have the place on lockdown,” he said.
Gov. Jay Inslee of Washington declared a state of emergency, directing state agencies to do everything reasonably possible to assist affected communities. The proclamation allows the use of the Washington National Guard, if necessary. The indications of possible spread, and the involvement of a nursing facility marked a new, urgent phase in the response to the virus in the United States, where 70 cases have been reported, and until Saturday, none had been fatal. Most of the cases could be explained by overseas travel or contact with someone who had been ill. This week, though, new cases, in California, Oregon and Washington, were the first in the United States in which the cause was mysterious and unknown — a sign, experts warned, that the virus, which has killed more than 2,800 people worldwide and sickened more than 86,000 others, might now be spreading in the United States.
The death and indications of possible spread signaled a new, urgent phase in the response to the virus in the United States, where 65 cases had previously been reported, none of them fatal. Most of the cases could be explained by overseas travel or contact with someone who had been ill. This week, though, four new cases, in California, Oregon and Washington, were the first in the United States where the cause was mysterious and unknown — a sign, experts warned, that the virus, which has killed more than 2,800 people worldwide and sickened tens of thousands of others, might now be spreading in the United States. In the Northwest, especially, health officials were putting in place new precautions given the new cases. They were already discussing the possibility that they might recommend cancellations of public events. They began warning that life in the coming weeks may undergo dramatic change.
Mr. Trump, who is anxious about the virus and the toll it has taken on the stock market, which he tracks closely as a measurement of his economic record, suggested that the virus was manageable and that “the markets will all come back.” By Saturday, 10 people have been treated in Washington State, including the first case diagnosed in the United States, a man in his 30s who had traveled in China and has since recovered; several patients were treated at a Spokane area hospital after returning from a cruise ship in Japan; and the first known coronavirus fatality in the United States, a man in his 50s whose death was announced Saturday.
“We have one problem,” he added. “We have to get this problem brought into focus.” In announcing the death at a news conference, President Trump said the victim was a “wonderful woman” in her 50s, but local officials later said the patient had been a man in his 50s. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention later said that the patient was, in fact, a man, and that the agency had incorrectly described the patient as a woman.
Few details were known about the man who died, except that he had underlying health conditions and had been a patient at a hospital in Kirkland. He was not known to have traveled abroad, or to have had contact with anyone who had tested positive for the virus, adding to growing signs that the coronavirus may be spreading in the United States. He also had no known connection to the nursing care facility, officials said.
The new cases added to the fears of some residents. Noelle Salazar, an author in Bothell, Wash., was recovering from a surgery, and realized that she had been in the same hospital as the man who died.
“We weren’t in the same section, but it’s not comforting,” she said while recuperating at home. “I’m a little on edge right now for sure.”
Like many Americans, she has begun to take extra precautions in recent days: She wiped down her shopping cart at the grocery store for the first time, picked up extra vitamins and nonperishable food from the aisles and canceled a Pilates class to avoid getting too close to others.
Around the region, it was clear that residents were bracing. At a big-box store north of Seattle on early Saturday, checkout lines were unusually long, snaking down aisles with carts loaded with all sorts of supplies.
In Oregon, a state that until Friday had not reported any cases of the coronavirus, officials say an employee of Forest Hills Elementary School in Lake Oswego, a suburb of Portland, appeared to have contracted the virus more than a week ago. The school would be closed for several days, and was being cleaned, but parents said they were uncertain and scared.
Gov. Kate Brown of Oregon said that she expected more cases, and that her state might take more aggressive action if the outbreak gets more severe. But, in the meantime, she said people did not need to take drastic action.
“I’m wanting to convey to Oregonians, and frankly folks on the entire West Coast: stay calm, continue on your daily lives and follow public health precautions,” Ms. Brown said.
Dr. Dean Sidelinger, Oregon’s state health officer, said a broader closure of schools was an option the state could pursue at some point. “If we do notice spread in our community or multiple cases, that is certainly something we would consider on a case-by-case basis,” Dr. Sidelinger said.
Back at the school in Lake Oswego, parents were weighing how to go forward.
“I really don’t know how to process it at this point,” said Danielle Gaustad, a mother of three children, ages 3, 5 and 18. Her 5-year-old, who attends Forest Hills Elementary, had pneumonia several weeks ago, and her 3-year-old has severe asthma. “When people don’t understand an illness, and clearly no one understands coronavirus at this point, everybody gets scared,” Ms. Gaustad said.
Though the school has said it intends to reopen in a few days, Ms. Gaustad said she would not allow her children to go back to school this week. “I don’t know when I will, honestly,” she said. “It’s scary.”
Officials in Washington State were already discussing the possibility that they may recommend cancellations of public events, including sports and entertainment, to limit the spread. They began warning that life in the coming weeks may change drastically.
Washington State leaders, who had for weeks reiterated that the risk to the general public was low, issued a more insistent message.
“We really believe that the risk at this point is increasing,” said Dr. Kathy Lofy, a health officer for the state.
In Oregon, where officials say that an elementary school employee was among the new, unexplained cases, concerns were raised that children may have been exposed. District officials announced they would shut down the school until Wednesday and conduct a deep cleaning of the building.
Dr. Dean Sidelinger, Oregon’s state health officer, said a broader closure of schools is an option the state could pursue at some point.
“If we do notice spread in our community or multiple cases, that is certainly something we would consider on a case-by-case basis,” Dr. Sidelinger said.
Health officials in Washington State announced the country’s first case of coronavirus nearly six weeks ago. That person, a man who had traveled in China, has since recovered. As dozens of other cases were diagnosed across the United States, no others were announced in Washington until this week.
On Friday night, health officials there announced that a teenage boy and a woman in her 50s had tested positive for coronavirus. The woman had recently spent time in South Korea. The boy, a high school student, had not traveled to any high-risk areas. The student’s high school will not reopen until Tuesday, and some peers who were in contact with the infected student will be kept out of school for at least 14 days, officials said.
Dr. Jeff Duchin, health officer for Public Health Seattle & King County, warned that a cascade of such developments could be coming. He said businesses should be prepared to allow employees to work from home and that people may need to consider avoiding crowds.
Health officials may get to the point where they will recommend the cancellations of large public gatherings, including sporting and entertainment events, Dr. Duchin said. That could place questions over major gatherings, including a popular running race in downtown Seattle set for Sunday and the city’s Comic Con gathering in a couple of weeks.
Gov. Kate Brown of Oregon said that she expects more cases and that her state may take more aggressive action if the outbreak gets more severe. But, in the meantime, she said people do not need to take drastic action.
“I’m wanting to convey to Oregonians, and frankly folks on the entire West Coast: Stay calm, continue on your daily lives, and follow public health precautions,” Ms. Brown said.
Michael Crowley reported from Washington, Mike Baker from Seattle and Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs from New York. Claire Cain Miller contributed reporting from Lake Oswego, Ore., and Mitch Smith from Chicago.
Mike Baker reported from Seattle, Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs from New York and Karen Weise from Kirkland, Wash. Knvul Sheikh contributed reporting from New York, Claire Cain Miller from Lake Oswego, Ore., and Mitch Smith from Chicago.