SACRAMENTO, Calif. — Flanked by state health officials for a press conference at the California Department of Public Health, Gov. Gavin Newsom addressed the public with the response being undertaken to combat the coronavirus and halt its spread in California.
The press conference was called in response to the first confirmed transmission of the virus in the United State via community spread from an unknown origin.
On Wednesday, it was announced that a Solano County resident is being treated in Sacramento for the coronavirus, the first confirmed person-to-person case in California. The person, who has not been identified, was not exposed to the virus through traveling or through contact with someone who was known to be infected, according to California Department of Public Health officials.
“The case [at UC Davis Medical Center] understandably generated a lot of attention, but didn’t surprise [state health officials],” Newsom said. “Accordingly, when hearing about it, we initiated a series of protocols that we were prepared to advance.”
Among those protocols, Newsom mentioned tracking and tracing of people connected to the infected individual and a “deep partnership” with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC] on testing, which he said is the state’s principal focus.
Newsom did his best to alleviate anxiety related to the spread of the illness, citing the protocols California has implemented in the past with such viruses as h5n1, Ebola, SARS, etc.
“We will meet this moment…We will accordingly attach ourselves to a little bit of understanding of our history and our capacity to meet pandemics head-on, both in preplanning, both in addressing pandemic in real-time, and more importantly, in many respects, in post-pandemic,” Newsom affirmed.
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As of Thursday, there are 33 confirmed cases of coronavirus in California, and according to Newson, five of those patients have moved out of state.
"We have been anticipating the potential for such a case in the U.S., and given our close familial, social and business relationships with China, it is not unexpected that the first case in the U.S. would be in California," said Dr. Sonia Angell.
Angell, director and state health officer with the California Department of Public Health, identified the origins of the 33 confirmed coronavirus cases in the state.
According to Angell, 24 patients came from the repatriation flights from China to Travis Air Force Base; seven others were travel-related; one patient was infected by person-to-person contact with their spouse; and finally, the one patient being treated at UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento, is the only patient whose infection origin remains unknown. But state officials say there is no evidence the woman had any connection to the base. Gov. Gavin Newsom says the state has about 200 testing kits for the virus and that federal officials are sending more to California.
“This is a fluid situation. At this time the risk remains low. The risk to the general public of California remains low,” Angell said. “We plan for the worst and best situation, We plan for everything.”
California Health and Human Services Agency secretary Dr. Mark Ghaly echoed the governor’s comments on the state’s capacity for dealing with situations like these.
“It's natural to feel concerned about the coronavirus but we have rigorously planned for this. We prepared for the H1n1. We've gone through this with Ebola and many other events like this in the past,” Ghaly said. “We take every precaution to protect the health of California, leveraging all the necessary resources to protect it.”
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