‘Three threats at once’: California urges caution amid spread of RSV, COVID, flu
A new case of the coronavirus was confirmed Saturday in the state capital for the first time, amid a wave of flu like symptoms across the nation, officials said.
The new case involved a man infected in California with the coronavirus and whose spouse lives in Washington state, according to a news conference Thursday.
“This is one of the first cases in California in the last couple of days,” said Dr. Weldon Kern, head of the California Department of Public Health. “I think this is a signal for us to have more patients. We need more patients to understand this virus is here and it is coming our way. That’s the main point.”
The patient, who lives in Oregon with his wife, is self isolating, Kern said. The couple have no child, Kern said. The patient’s symptoms do not appear to be related to the flu, the department said.
“He is asymptomatic and it doesn’t add to his risk,” Kern said.
The patient is a man in his 70s who is currently in isolation in his home. The Washington state patient, whose name was not released, is a woman in her 40s who lives in Seattle and does not have a recent travel history.
Two other cases of coronavirus were reported in California in the last 72 hours, Kern said. The department confirmed a new case Wednesday linked to one of the two, with a person in his 50s who was hospitalized and in critical condition.
The patient is a man in his 40s who is hospitalized, and a case of the coronavirus has been reported at a hospital in the San Francisco Bay area.
The latest coronavirus cases in California include a married couple in their 50s and an 82-year-old patient in his 90s, according to the department. All are in stable condition, with no other known contacts and no exposure to the coronavirus, Kern said.
“The numbers are really growing here with coronav