CDC took 4 days to test Solano County resident for coronavirus

Officials are advising people to take steps to avoid infection with coronavirus or other respiratory infections like a cold or the flu, including washing hands with soap and water and avoiding close contact with people who are sick. less Officials are advising people to take steps to avoid infection with coronavirus or other respiratory infections like a cold or the flu, including washing hands with soap and water and avoiding close contact ... more Image 1 of / 72 Caption Close CDC took 4 days to test Solano County resident for coronavirus 1 / 72 Back to Gallery

New details emerged Thursday about a COVID-19 case in Northern California that's being called the first in the United States with no known connection to travel abroad or another known case.

The female patient, who is a resident of Solano County, first arrived at the NorthBay VacaValley Hospital in Vacaville on Feb. 15 and spent three days there.

After the patient's condition worsened, she was transported to UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento County on Feb. 19, but it wasn't until four days later that the CDC heeded a request to test the patient for coronavirus, according to an email sent to employees Wednesday by the hospital’s interim CEO Brad Simmons and David Lubarsky, CEO of UC Davis Health.

The patient arrived on a ventilator, and special protection orders were issued “because of an undiagnosed and suspected viral condition,” according to the email.

The hospital asked the CDC to test for the coronavirus, but testing was delayed until Sunday “since the patient did not fit the existing CDC criteria for COVID-19,” the email said.

The CDC confirmed the test was positive on Feb. 26.

Despite the delay in testing, UC Davis Medical Center, which has treated other coronavirus patients, has been taking infection prevention precautions since the patient arrived. The email said officials believe that there was "minimal chance" others at the facility were exposed to the virus.

“Nevertheless, a small number of medical center employees have been asked to stay home and monitor their temperatures,” the email said.

Those VacaValley staff members who had contact with the patient are staying home, officials said. Steve Huddleston, spokesperson for NorthBay Healthcare, told Politico, "hospital staff did not request the patient be tested for coronavirus while at the Vacaville hospital because the patient did not meet the criteria to be tested."

The CDC issued a statement on the new patient saying this is likely the first case of infection with unknown origin. "At this time, the patient’s exposure is unknown,'' the CDC said. "It’s possible this could be an instance of community spread of COVID-19, which would be the first time this has happened in the United States. Community spread means spread of an illness for which the source of infection is unknown. It’s also possible, however, that the patient may have been exposed to a returned traveler who was infected.''

State and federal health officials are trying to locate everyone who came in contact with the Northern California woman. While the woman lives in Solano County, home to Travis Air Force Base, where dozens of people infected in China or on cruise ships have been treated, Sonia Angell, director of the California Department of Public Health, said there was no evidence the woman had any connection to the base.

California Governor Gavin Newsom said in a press conference Thursday at least 8,400 people are being monitored for new coronavirus in the state.

Newsom declined comment when asked by reporters to name the community in Solano County where the woman is from. He urged people to take precautions while emphasizing that the risks to public health are low. He said there was no need to declare a public health emergency.

“Everybody in this country is rightfully anxious about this moment,” Newsom said. “I think they should know we are meeting this moment with the kind of urgency that is necessary and I don’t want to over extend the anxiety.”

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All of the 59 other cases in the United States had traveled from abroad or had been in close contact with those who traveled. Health officials have been on high alert for community spread of the virus.

Earlier cases in the United States include 14 people who traveled back from outbreak areas in China, or their spouses; three people who were evacuated from the central China city of Wuhan; and 42 Americans on the Diamond Princess cruise ship who were evacuated by the federal government to the United States from where the ship was docked in Japan.

Some of those evacuated were taken to Travis Air Force Base. A number of the earlier cases have been in California, including among some of the people taken to Travis and one in which a traveler who returned to San Benito County spread the virus to a spouse.

California officials have been preparing for the possibility that community spread of the virus might first surface there.

“We have been anticipating the potential for such a case in the U.S., and given our close familial, social and business relationships with China, it is not unexpected that the first case in the U.S. would be in California,” said Dr. Angell in a statement.

Originating in China, the outbreak has infected more than 82,000 people in three dozen countries, with the vast majority in mainland China.

The new virus is a member of the coronavirus family that can cause colds or more serious illnesses such as SARS and MERS.

The virus can cause fever, coughing, wheezing and pneumonia. Health officials think it spreads mainly from droplets when an infected person coughs or sneezes, similar to how the flu spreads.

Officials are advising people to take steps to avoid infection with coronavirus or other respiratory infections like a cold or the flu, including washing hands with soap and water, and avoiding close contact with people who are sick.

The Associated Press contributed to this story.

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Amy Graff is a digital editor with SFGATE. Email her: agraff@sfgate.com.