Santa Clara County Woman Has Coronavirus Case Of Unknown Origin

SANTA CLARA COUNTY, CA — California's second coronavirus case of unknown origin was announced in Santa Clara County on Friday. The patient, an older woman, lives in the county and has not traveled to any of the countries that have had widespread outbreaks of COVID-19, county officials said.

Tis woman has the United States' second confirmed case of COVID-19 by community transmission, following a Solano County woman whose case was confirmed Thursday. These cases, involving patients with no known connection to others with the virus, are seen as precursors to a more widespread outbreak.

The case announced Friday is the third confirmed coronavirus case in Santa Clara County. The previous two had both involved patients who had traveled to Wuhan, China, the epicenter of the outbreak. This woman, however, had no contact with any other known patients.

The patient announced Friday is an older woman — 65 years old, according to the Washington Post — who has chronic health conditions and had been hospitalized for difficulty breathing, county officials said. Her infectious disease doctor asked the Public Health Department to test her for coronavirus, and the county received her specimens Thursday.

"Since receiving the results last night, the department has been working to identify contacts and understand the extent of exposures," county officials said in a statement.

At a press conference Friday afternoon, county Public Health Director Dr. Sara Cody said the case suggests the virus has already been circulating undetected in the region.

"What we know now is that the virus is here, present, at some level, but we still don’t know to what degree," she said.

Also in attendance at the press conference were representatives from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the State of California Public Health Department, who are helping the county monitor the virus's spread.

Local, statewide exposure

Also on Friday, the Palo Alto Unified School District said it had sent two students home who may have been exposed to the coronavirus. One attends Palo Alto High School and other is a student at JLS Middle School, according to Superintendent Don Austin, who said both students will be kept away from school "until we receive more information."

Friday's news comes one day after Gov. Gavin Newsom revealed that 8,400 people are being monitored in California for coronavirus symptoms, with 33 having tested positive — more than double the number that the CDC had reported for the entire country.

Also on Thursday, multiple outlets reported a whistleblower's complaint alleging that federal health workers were given inadequate training and protective gear while treating coronavirus evacuees sent to military bases in Riverside and Solano counties.

This developing story will be updated.

Bay City News contributed to this report.