Coronavirus Case Confirmed In Berkeley

BERKELEY, CA — The City of Berkeley confirmed its first case of new coronavirus, COVID-19, on Tuesday. A Berkeley resident returned to Berkeley on Feb. 23 from Italy, which has the highest caseload of new coronavirus in Europe. The person largely stayed at home in a voluntary self-imposed quarantine, the City said in a press release.

This case is separate from the first presumed case in the East Bay, announced on Monday, in a health care worker who treated a coronavirus patient at a hospital in Vacaville.

In the U.S., the death toll from COVID-19 rose to nine on Tuesday, with all of the deaths in Washington state.

The City of Berkeley has its own public health jurisdiction, and Berkeley Public Health is investigating whether the individual had contact with others. Individuals potentially exposed will be identified, notified and evaluated.

City Manager Dee Williams-Ridley on Tuesday at noon proclaimed a local emergency, which allows the City to marshal more resources to prepare for any additional cases.

“While the risk of infection remains low, the expanded presence of the virus in our community is a reality we should all prepare for,” said Dr. Lisa Hernandez. “There are steps that all of us in the community can take now to improve basic hygiene and also prepare for a wider spread in the future.”

>>Previous: First Presumed Case Of Coronavirus In East Bay

There is no immunization for COVID-19, and no specific treatments, so Berkeley Public Health recommends:

• wash your hands often with soap and water
• stay home when sick
• don't touch your face with unwashed hands
• cover coughs with a tissue or your elbow

“The City activated its EOC over a month ago to prepare for this kind of case, and staff will be doing more as more cases emerge,” said Mayor Jesse Arreguin. “The best thing people can do is follow medical advice from our Health Officer and the CDC: act now to improve hygiene and prepare for the future.”

Coronaviruses are a family of viruses that include the common cold as well as much more serious diseases. The strain that emerged in China in late 2019, now called COVID-19, is related to others that have caused serious outbreaks in recent years, including severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS). The first confirmed case of COVID-19 in the U.S. was on Jan. 21.

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The disease, which apparently originated in animals, is now transferring from person to person, although the mechanism is not yet fully understood. Its symptoms include fever, coughing and shortness of breath, and many patients develop pneumonia. There is as yet no vaccine against COVID-19 it and no antiviral treatment.

According to the CDC, the best way of preventing the disease is to avoid close contact with people who are sick, to avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth with unwashed hands, to wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds, and to use a hand sanitizer that contains at least 60 percent alcohol if soap and water are not available.

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To avoid spreading any respiratory illness, the CDC recommends staying at home when you are sick, covering your cough or sneeze with a tissue and throwing the tissue in the trash, cleaning and disinfecting frequently touched objects and surfaces.

“The more people that prepare, the more resilient we’ll be as a community,” said Dr. Hernandez. “Individual actions collectively also help the most vulnerable, especially the elderly or those with chronic respiratory issues.”

Twitter town hall with Berkeley’s Health Officer

Health Officer Dr. Lisa Hernandez will answer questions from Berkeley residents about the health aspects of COVID-19 during a one-hour Twitter town hall starting at noon on Friday.

Tweet your questions to @CityofBerkeley using the hashtag #BerkCOVID19, or use an online form to submit anonymously.

Dr. Hernandez will answer as many questions as possible during the town hall, and we will post responses to all the questions we receive on our COVID-19 webpage next week.