With More Coronavirus Cases Likely, Health Agencies Look Ahead

SEATTLE, WA — Following the announcement of five new COVID-19 cases in 24 hours, and the first known U.S. death linked to the new coronavirus, public health officials in Washington say they are preparing for the likelihood of more diagnoses to come.

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Before Friday night, just one case of the new respiratory virus had been confirmed in Washington state since January. By Saturday morning, that number had grown to six. Health officials said they were awaiting results on several other tests, which could return by Saturday night or Sunday morning.

According to health officials, more than 50 individuals associated with a long-term care facility in Kirkland are reportedly sick with respiratory illnesses or currently hospitalized for pneumonia. One of the confirmed coronavirus cases announced Saturday was a resident at the facility while another was an employee.

In a Saturday afternoon press conference, health officials said the new cases came to light after guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shifted to recommend tests for all severe respiratory illnesses — not just those noted in people who had recently traveled overseas. All of the cases announced Saturday had no known links to recent travel.

Dr. Kathy Lofy, Washington's State Health Officer, said state health employees were gearing up to process up to 200 specimens daily at the Public Health Laboratory in Shoreline. Health officials said testing for the illness in state labs is approximately four times faster than waiting for test results to return from CDC headquarters in Atlanta.

"We're going to be doing as many tests as we can," Lofy said. "We do not have a backlog right now. Should we start to see more spread, we will need more testing capacity."

Lofy said the state is working aggressively to enlist help from commercial and university labs, should the need for further tests continue to rise.

The Department of Health said it would continue to analyze data on the number and geographical reach of infections to determine how its guidance would proceed. Should the new virus become more widespread in the region, Lofy said the state could recommend "community-based social distancing strategies," including school closures and the cancellation of large public gatherings, like sporting events.

"We actually have a whole team at the Department of Health that is now really thinking about these questions," Lofy said. "They are hard decisions to make."

Lofy said the health department would employ the same tools it uses to track influenza to determine the virus's overall activity, the severity of each illness, and the level of stress a potential outbreak placed on state health care systems.

While the majority of COVID-19 patients do not suffer life-threatening symptoms, it poses enhanced risks to those with underlying health conditions. Health officials said there are several factors that make the new virus especially concerning, even when compared to a more widespread illness like the flu.

"The difference between this coronavirus and influenza is, first of all, it's a [new] coronavirus, so there's no innate immunity to this — it's a completely vulnerable population," said Dr. Frank Riedo, a medical director at EvergreenHealth. "Second, there is no vaccine to prevent it. The third thing is there is no currently effective anti-viral therapy."

"With all of those things, it's a perfect storm for a novel virus to come out, without a vaccine, without population-based protection, and without an effective therapeutic agent," Riedo said.

In response to the recent cases, King County Executive Dow Constantine announced he had activated an emergency operations center to coordinate preventative measures across all county agencies.

Constantine said King County Metro had established an incident management team to develop strategies and protocols that will keep public transit running in the state's most populous county under all possible scenarios.

The state Department of Health said it would continue to update the public as it receives more results from the public health lab, with the expectation that further cases will be revealed.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Learn more about the COVID-19 public health response in Washington state:

• Public Health Seattle-King County
• Snohomish County Health District
• Washington State Department of Health