SEATTLE – A patient infected with the novel coronavirus in Washington state has died, a state health official said Saturday, marking the first death due to the virus in the United States.
“It is a sad day in our state as we learn that a Washingtonian has died from COVID-19,” Gov. Jay Inslee said in a statement, using the World Health Organization’s name for the disease caused by the coronavirus.
While this is the first death in the United States from the coronavirus, it is not the first death of an American. A 60-year-old US citizen died earlier this month in the city of Wuhan, China, where the virus first appeared in late December.
Sixty-seven cases have been reported in the United States, among more than 85,000 globally. More than 2,900 people worldwide have died, most of them in China.
At least four US coronavirus patients have no travel history that would tie them to the virus, health officials say.
Federal health officials say there is no need to panic and the general public is not at direct risk of contracting the disease.
It sure would be nice to get more information. Was he or she healthy? Did he or she have any preexisting ailments?