California Reports First Coronavirus Death as Symptoms Swirl on Cruise Ship
Gov. Gavin Newsom declared a state of emergency as California confronted a deepening sense of crisis over the spread of the coronavirus on Wednesday, when an older patient in the Sacramento area died from the virus and a cruise ship carrying 21 people with symptoms was held off the coast of San Francisco.
The person who died, in Placer County, was the 11th death linked to the virus in the United States, and the first outside of Washington State. The patient had underlying health conditions and was most likely exposed to the virus last month during international travel that included a cruise to Mexico, officials said.
Eleven passengers and 10 crew members who are still on that ship, the Grand Princess, were showing symptoms on Wednesday, Mr. Newsom said in an evening news conference. “That number may significantly understate” the scope of infection, he said, or “it may indeed be abundance of caution.” Public health officials prepared to screen everyone aboard the ship, which was not yet allowed to return to shore, Mr. Newsom said.
The Grand Princess is owned by Princess Cruises, the same company that runs the Diamond Princess, a coronavirus-stricken cruise ship that was quarantined off the coast of Japan last month.
Among the new California cases of coronavirus announced on Wednesday were six in Los Angeles County: three people who had traveled together in Northern Italy; two relatives who had been in contact with a family member who previously tested positive; and a medical contractor for the Department of Homeland Security, whose job included screening passengers at Los Angeles International Airport.
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