As Second U.S. Death Reported Out Of Wash. Nursing Facility, Fears Mount For Vulnerable Elderly Population

The Associated Press: Authorities Announce 2nd Coronavirus Death In US
Health officials in Washington state said Sunday night that a second person had died from the coronavirus — a man in his 70s from a nursing facility near Seattle where dozens of people were sick and had been tested for the virus. Researchers said earlier the virus may have been circulating for weeks undetected in Washington state. (Johnson and Flaccus, 3/1)

The New York Times: 2nd Death Near Seattle Adds To Signs Coronavirus Is Spreading In U.S.
With testing now ramping up, the Seattle suburb of Kirkland has become an epicenter of both illness and fear, much of it focused on a nursing facility where six coronavirus cases have been confirmed and many more residents and employees have complained of illness. Health authorities in King County, Wash., announced on Sunday evening that one of the six, a resident of the nursing home, had died of the virus at the EvergreenHealth hospital in Kirkland, and that three more were in critical condition. The death was the second on U.S. soil from the virus; the first also occurred at that hospital. One-quarter of Kirkland’s firefighters were in quarantine on Sunday because they had been to the nursing facility. A nearby college spent the day cleansing its campus because students had visited the nursing home. The hospital has asked visitors to stay away. (Baker, Fink, Bogel-Burroughs and Healy, 3/1)

The Washington Post: Kirkland, Wash., Becomes Epicenter Of Coronavirus Response As Cases Spread
One church canceled Communion on Sunday and banned handshakes and hugs. More than two dozen firefighters, and some police officers, are under quarantine. The hospital urged visitors to stay home. And Lake Washington Institute of Technology said it is shutting down for two days to disinfect the campus. This outdoorsy city of 90,000 just northeast of Seattle, known for its piney woods, water sports and a Google campus with a meandering bike path running through it, has become the epicenter of the U.S. response to the deadly coronavirus as it begins to spread along the West Coast. (Sacchetti and Nguyen, 3/1)

Stat: First Covid-19 Outbreak In A U.S. Nursing Home Raises Concerns
“We are very concerned about an outbreak in a setting where there are many older people, as we would be wherever people who are susceptible might be gathering,” said Jeff Duchin, health officer for public health for Seattle and King County. He added that older adults and people with underlying health conditions like diabetes, heart or lung disease should be especially careful to protect themselves by washing their hands, not touching their faces, and avoiding contact with people who are sick. (Boodman and Branswell, 2/29)

Kaiser Health News: Nursing Home Outbreak Spotlights Coronavirus Risk In Elder Care Facilities
An outbreak of coronavirus disease in a nursing home near Seattle is prompting urgent calls for precautionary tactics at America’s elder care facilities, where residents are at heightened risk of serious complications from the illness because of the dual threat of age and close living conditions. The emergence of the novel contagious illness at the Life Care Center of Kirkland, Washington, has left one resident dead and four others hospitalized, with three in critical condition, local health officials said late Sunday. (Aleccia, 3/1)

Boston Globe: At Senior Living Homes, A Heightened Readiness As Coronavirus Looms
Senior living communities across Massachusetts are girding themselves for the arrival of an unwanted visitor: Covid-19. Many are ordering protective gear, updating emergency procedures, and poring over public health guidance on everything from alcohol-based hand rubs to special respirators for staffers who may be caring for infected residents. (Weisman, 3/1)

CNN: Woman Whose Husband Is Being Cared For At Washington Nursing Facility Demands Answers After State Says Its Investigating A Possible Outbreak At The Site 
Bonnie Holstad stood outside a long-term nursing facility in Washington state Sunday holding a sign in hopes of getting information on her husband's condition. Holstad's husband, Ken, has been staying at the Life Care Center -- where more than 50 residents and staff are experiencing coronavirus symptoms -- after a fall that broke his hip. He has Parkinson's disease and dementia and also has a cough, she said. "No one at Life Care is answering the phones," the sign read. "He needs to be attended to ... what is his temperature?" (Holcombe and Karimi, 3/2)

The New York Times: Coronavirus May Have Spread In U.S. For Weeks, Gene Sequencing Suggests
Researchers who have examined the genomes of two coronavirus infections in Washington State say the similarities between the cases suggest that the virus may have been spreading in the state for weeks. Washington had the United States’ first confirmed case of coronavirus, announced by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Jan. 20. Based on an analysis of the virus’s genetic sequence, another case that surfaced in the state and was announced on Friday probably was descended from that first case. The two people live in the same county, but are not known to have had contact with one another, and the second case occurred well after the first would no longer be expected to be contagious. (Fink and Baker, 3/1)

The Washington Post: Coronavirus May Have Spread Undetected For Weeks In Washington State, Which Reported First Two Deaths In U.S.
The researchers conducted genetic sequencing of two virus samples. One is from a patient who traveled from China to Snohomish County in mid-January and was the first person diagnosed with the disease in the United States. The other came from a recently diagnosed patient in the same county, a high school student with no travel-related or other known exposure to the coronavirus. The two samples look almost identical genetically, said Trevor Bedford, a computational biologist at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle who announced the results of the research on Twitter late Saturday night. “This strongly suggests that there has been cryptic transmission in Washington State for the past 6 weeks,” Bedford wrote. “I believe we’re facing an already substantial outbreak in Washington State that was not detected until now due to narrow case definition requiring direct travel to China.” (Achenbach, Mettler, Sun and Guarino, 3/1)

The Associated Press: Wash. State Sees 1st Virus Death In US, Declares Emergency
Gov. Jay Inslee directed state agencies to use “all resources necessary” to prepare for and respond to the coronavirus outbreak. The declaration also allows the use of the Washington National Guard, if necessary. “We will continue to work toward a day where no one dies from this virus," the governor vowed. (Selsky, 2/29)

CNN: US Coronavirus: Two Dozen New Cases Reported Over The Weekend 
The total number of novel coronavirus cases in the United States jumped by two dozen over the weekend, as the first two deaths from the outbreak were confirmed. New cases of the virus were announced in Oregon, Rhode Island, Washington state, and Florida on Sunday, bringing the US total to 89 as of Monday morning, up from 65 on Friday night. The new cases prompted emergency declarations in at least two states and sparked new warnings. (Silverman, 3/2)

Stat: 4 New Coronavirus Cases In Pacific Northwest Suggest Community Spread
Later on Friday health officials in Oregon reported diagnosing a case of Covid-19 — the disease the virus causes — in a person from Washington County who had neither a history of travel to a country where the virus was circulating nor close contact with a confirmed case. (Branswell, 2/28)

The Wall Street Journal: Three New Coronavirus Cases With No Known Exposure Reported On West Coast
Late Friday, Washington health officials said a high-school student in Snohomish County came down with a fever, body aches and a headache on Monday and sought treatment at local clinics. He returned to school Friday morning after feeling better but was notified of a positive test for the coronavirus and returned home immediately before going to class. The student, who is at home in isolation and doing well, hadn’t traveled to Asia and it wasn’t clear how the illness was contracted, health officials said. A small number of classmates who came into contact with the sick student have been told to stay home for 14 days. (Carlton, Frosch and Armour, 2/29)

Los Angeles Times: West Coast Scrambles As Cases Emerge Nationwide
Meanwhile, three more people were diagnosed with COVID-19 in Santa Clara County on Sunday, health officials said. One is an adult woman with chronic health conditions. An investigation into how she acquired the infection was just launched, the Santa Clara County Public Health Department said Sunday evening. The other two patients are a husband and wife who had recently traveled to Egypt. All three are hospitalized, officials said. Additional information about their condition was not available. (Wigglesworth, Karlamangla, Vives, King and Read, 3/1)

San Francisco Chronicle: 5 New Coronavirus Cases In Solano, Alameda, Santa Clara Counties
Bay Area health officials announced five new coronavirus cases Sunday, reinforcing warnings from the Centers for Disease Control that the outbreak may become a pandemic. The diagnoses include two East Bay health care workers who probably have the virus, public health officials in Alameda and Solano counties said. The workers, employees at NorthBay VacaValley Hospital in Vacaville, are considered “presumptive positives,” meaning local tests administered by the California Department of Public Health found they have the virus, officials said. (Sanchez, 3/1)

The Wall Street Journal: Coronavirus Cases Mount As Second Person Dies In U.S.
Public health experts said that a shortage of tests had limited the ability to identify and contain cases and likely contributed to the virus’ spread. There had been relatively few diagnostic tests conducted in the U.S., with most state and local health departments sending patient samples to the CDC and waiting days for results. (Abbott and Mullins, 3/1)

Reuters: U.S. Still Unsure How First American Fatality Contracted Virus: Azar
U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar said on Sunday it remained unclear how the first American to die of coronavirus contracted the disease, and that there was no evidence he had a connection to someone who had traveled to an outbreak area. (3/2)