The first case of COVID-19, the novel coronavirus, has been confirmed in a Humboldt County resident, and “a close contact” with symptoms is also being tested, local public health officials announced Thursday.

The Public Health branch of Humboldt County’s Department of Health and Human Services said Thursday it had received confirmation of the news from the state Department of Public Health and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

A separate statement Thursday from Roberta Luskin-Hawk, M.D., chief executive of St. Joseph Health, Humboldt County, said the two patients were evaluated at St. Joseph Hospital’s Emergency Department in Eureka on Feb. 16.

“After a thorough investigation, at this time, we have no evidence that any patients were exposed during the visit,” Luskin-Hawk said in the statement. “There was no close or prolonged contact with anyone in the Emergency Department. We followed established protocols from the moment the patients arrived. They were admitted straight to a special isolation room that has negative pressure to minimize the risk of exposure.”

Luskin-Hawk’s statement said the hospital worked closely with the CDC and Humboldt County Public Health.

“Both patients were treated and released the same day. Per the press release issued by the Humboldt County Department of Health and Human Services Public Health (DHHS) they are now under home quarantine.”

The individuals “are doing well and self-isolating at home, while being monitored for symptoms by the Public Health Communicable Disease Surveillance and Control Unit,” according to the DHHS release.

“Close contacts of these individuals will also be quarantined at home and monitored for symptoms by Public Health staff,” the DHHS release said. “With the amount of foreign travel by county residents, including travel to China, it is not surprising that a case has emerged locally. Additional cases may occur either in returning travelers or their close contacts.”

Though all but about 1,000 of more than 75,000 reported cases of COVID-19 have been recorded in China, scattered cases have erupted elsewhere.

“It’s important to remember that the risk to the general public remains low at this time,” Humboldt County Health Officer Dr. Teresa Frankovich said in the DHHS release. “Despite the fact that Humboldt County now has a confirmed case of COVID-19, there is no evidence to suggest that novel coronavirus is circulating in the community at large.”

Confirmed reports of transmission in the U.S. to date have been among close contacts and not among the general public, Frankovich indicated in the DHHS release. Luskin-Hawk’s statement concurred.

“The risk is very low for exposure to COVID-19 in the U.S. at this time,” she said.

Precautions

DHHS asks those who are ill and in need of medical care and have been in China within the previous two weeks or have been in contact with an individual who has COVID-19 to please contact a health care provider or emergency department before presenting for care.

“Arrangements will be made to have you evaluated in the safest manner possible for health care staff and other patients,” the DHHS release said.

Public Health also suggests the following precautions to prevent the spread of COVID-19 and all infectious diseases, including common illnesses like colds and flu:

• Stay home when you are sick

• If you have a fever, stay home or go home if you are already at work or school, and stay home for at least 24 hours after you no longer have a fever (without the use of fever-reducing medicine).

• Wash your hands frequently and particularly before eating or drinking.

• Promote good hand hygiene in your home by educating household members and making sure soap, hand sanitizers, and tissues are available.

• Avoid touching your face, particularly your eyes, nose and mouth.

• Encourage proper cough etiquette. Cough or sneeze into a tissue, sleeve or arm. Do not use your hands.

• Perform routine surface cleaning, particularly for items which are frequently touched such as doorknobs, handles, remote controls, keyboards and other commonly shared surfaces.

Elsewhere

Four American passengers on the Diamond Princess cruise ship who tested positive for the virus are being sent to a hospital in Spokane, Washington, for treatment, officials said Thursday.

The four were flown back to the U.S. over the weekend, according to a spokeswoman for the Department of Health and Human Services. They were being transferred from Travis Air Force Base in California, hospital officials said.

Two patients arrived at the hospital Thursday with two more expected soon, said Christa Arguinchona, who manages a special isolation unit at Sacred Heart Medical Center. The hospital is one of 10 in the nation funded by Congress to treat new or highly infectious diseases.

“The risk to the community from this particular process is zero,” said Bob Lutz, of the Spokane Regional Health District at a briefing Thursday at the hospital.

When it docked in Japan, the Diamond Princess was put under quarantine, but more than 600 passengers and crew have been infected with the virus.

The latest front in the widening global fight against COVID-19 emerged in Daegu, South Korea, where the city’s 2.5 million residents were urged to stay inside, wearing masks even indoors to stem further infection. South Korea on Thursday reported 104 cases of the illness.

Iran announced three more infections Thursday, a day after it reported its first two deaths stemming from the virus, and South Korea reported its first fatality. Japan said two former passengers of the Diamond Princess cruise ship had died of the illness, bringing the death toll there to three.

A total of 11 deaths have been confirmed outside mainland China, including two in Hong Kong and one each in France, the Philippines and Taiwan.

For continuing COVID-19 updates, visit https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.