Coronavirus: First 'Presumptive Positive' Sonoma County Resident

SONOMA COUNTY, CA — A Sonoma County resident is presumptive positive for the new coronavirus, meaning the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will conduct another test to confirm the diagnosis, county officials said Monday. The resident believed to be infected with COVID-19 returned home to Sonoma County 10 days ago from an international cruise not related to the Diamond Princess cruise in Japan, but a cruise to Mexico that departed from San Francisco.

The patient has symptoms of the virus, and is currently in stable condition in an isolation room at a local hospital, according to the Sonoma County Department of Health

Tests conducted by the California Department of Public Health and in close coordination with the CDC, county and hospital officials led to the presumptive positive diagnosis, county health officials said.

"DHS, CDPH, CDC and hospital officials are currently in the process of identifying individuals this patient has had contact with during the time they were in the community before being hospitalized," officials said.

It marks the first COVID-19 case involving a Sonoma County resident, but the second COVID-19 case in the county. On Feb. 25, the county announced its first case, which was a patient transferred from Travis Air Force Base to a Sonoma County hospital. The person was among Diamond Princess cruise ship passengers flown on U.S. State Department-chartered flights from Japan to Travis AFB after they were exposed to the new coronavirus aboard the ship.

Because of the two cases, the county declared a health emergency and a local emergency. The emergency proclamations allow the county to prepare to respond for the possibility of community spread of COVID-19.

"This recent presumptive positive case of COVID-19 is a cause for concern, and the county is declaring these emergencies to activate and deploy its resources to adequately respond to an increase of cases," Health Officer Dr. Celeste Philip said. "They will allow us to work in tandem with our cities and health care providers to ensure we are prepared to combat an outbreak of COVID-19 in our communities.”

"This includes a partial activation of the County Emergency Operations Center to support necessary activities," the county said.

County health officials are working with the California Department of Public Health and the CDC to monitor the cases.

The county is awaiting COVID-19 test kits for use at its public health lab to be more responsive when there are suspected cases, and have a better understanding of what is happening in its communities.

Sonoma County residents should contact their healthcare providers if they have symptoms such as fever and cough and had close contact with someone with symptoms who returned in the last 14 days from China, Italy, Iran, Japan or South Korea.

Dr. Philip sent out an alert Friday to health-care providers in Sonoma County with updated guidance on how to screen for possible cases of COVID-19.

Sonoma County has also set up a coronavirus website.