Los Angeles County has declared a local state of emergency as health officials confirmed six new cases of coronavirus.

The new cases were confirmed by positive lab results on Tuesday night.

Speaking at a press conference on Wednesday morning, Los Angeles County Department of Public Health Director Barbara Ferrer said that all six cases are linked to an “assumed known exposure source”.

This means that all of the patients either had travelled to an area with an outbreak, had been exposed to someone that had travelled to an area with an outbreak, or had close contact with a confirmed case.

Ms Ferrer urged people to take standard precautions to stop the spread of disease including washing hands for 20 seconds, covering coughs and staying home if sick — all can help slow the spread of the virus. She added that: “As of today we still don’t have known cases of community transmission.”

In neighouring Orange County, two new cases were identified, both had a history of travel to affected countries.

As new testing capabilities are rolled out across the nation, more and more cases will be uncovered.

New York has confirmed a further four cases on Wednesday, taking its total to six. The hardest hit state to date is Washington where there have been nine deaths in the Seattle area.