A woman in her 50s has died in Washington State after contracting the coronavirus, American authorities announced on Saturday, the first death linked to the epidemic in American territory where the number of patients remains limited.
47 patients repatriated to the United States
Some 22 cases have been diagnosed in the United States, President Donald Trump said at a press conference. But several patients diagnosed in recent days had no known link to an outbreak, suggesting that the disease is spreading on American soil. To these cases are added 47 patients repatriated to the United States. The American president indicated that in addition to the deceased patient, four people were “very sick”, and 15 healed or in the process of recovery and which are not any more forced with the self-containment.
The death occurred in King County, which includes the city of Seattle. Friday, the state health authorities of Washington had reported the case of a woman aged about 50 years, who had carried out recently a trip to South Korea, one of the main sources of the spread of the disease outside of China. The woman had stayed in Daegu, the Korean city where most of the recent new cases of Covid-19 have been recorded.
“She was a wonderful woman”
Authorities did not provide further details on his identity and it was unclear at the time of questioning whether it was the same person whose death was announced on Saturday. According to Donald Trump, the patient who died in Washington State was “at risk medically”. “She was a wonderful woman,” said the president.
“It’s a sad day in our state,” said Washington Governor Jay Inslee. “We will continue to work so that no one dies of this virus anymore,” he added.
“There is no reason to panic,” the president urged, even though health minister Alex Azar, present at the press conference, said that “we (were) going to see new cases.”
43 million protective masks available
Donald Trump announced that he will meet with representatives of major pharmaceutical groups at the White House on Monday to discuss progress regarding a possible coronavirus vaccine. The president also said that 43 million protective masks were currently available in the United States.
On February 2, the Trump administration barred access to U.S. territory for all non-U.S. travelers who traveled to China within two weeks of arriving in the U.S. Appointed coordinator of the fight against the coronavirus, the vice-president Mike Pence announced that the United States would prohibit the entry on the American territory to any non-American person having stayed in Iran in the two weeks preceding their arrival. More than 500 cases and 43 confirmed deaths have been recorded in the territory of the Islamic Republic.
In addition, the American authorities ask their nationals not to go to certain areas of Italy and South Korea where there are important foci of the virus.
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