Coronavirus: First Contra Costa Case Confirmed

CONTRA COSTA COUNTY —Contra Costa Health Services announced Tuesday night the county's first confirmed case of novel coronavirus, COVID-19, in a resident who is being treated at a hospital here in the county.

The patient had not traveled out of the country recently, and had no contact with someone who has tested positive for the virus.

According to county health officials, the person's test was processed Tuesday at the county's public health lab. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control & Prevention is expected to verify the results in the coming days.

Contra Costa Health is tracking down people who had been in contact with the person to make sure that none of them contracted the virus.

Earlier Tuesday, Berkeley confirmed its first case of coronavirus, and more cases were confirmed in Santa Clara County.

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The U.S. death toll for COVID-19 rose to nine, with all of the deaths reported in Washington state.

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.

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.

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.

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