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Medical officials in California’s Santa Clara County, in the heart of Silicon Valley, said Tuesday night that the first US coronavirus-related death occurred weeks earlier than previously believed.
Two deaths on Feb. 6 and Feb. 17 were initially thought to be unrelated to COVID-19, but further evidence revealed they were, the county coroner said Tuesday.
“Today, the medical examiner received confirmation from the CDC that tissue samples from both cases are positive for SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19),” said the Santa County medical examiner. Clara in a statement. .
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Initially, a death reported by officials in Washington state on February 29 was the earliest death in the US. USA By the new coronavirus.
The news of previous deaths comes when the total number of deaths in the United States from the coronavirus exceeds 44,000, among more than 800,000 confirmed cases. California now has more than 35,000 cases with 1,288 deaths.
Santa Clara County officials reported that the first deaths there in February, plus another on March 9, were not initially attributed to the coronavirus as people died at home at a time when only very limited evidence was available to through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
“The testing criteria established by the CDC at the time restricted testing to only people with a known travel history and who sought medical attention for specific symptoms,” the county coroner’s-examiner statement said.
Since then, the evidence has expanded enormously, as the US USA It has performed 4.1 million tests, approximately one for every 80 people.
Antibody studies in some areas of the country are also beginning to give an idea of the extent of the disease.
The result of one of those studies looking at the prevalence of the virus in Santa Clara County “implies that the infection is much more widespread than the number of confirmed cases indicates.” The analysis, released last week, estimated that 2.5 percent to 4.2 of area residents have antibodies.
Dr. Jeff Smith, the county’s executive director, told the Los Angeles Times earlier this month: “The virus circulated freely in our community and has probably been here for quite some time.”
Ben kesslen contributed
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