Marin County health officials declared a local health emergency Tuesday to prepare as new cases of coronavirus in people without known exposure continue to emerge.

There have been no cases of coronavirus among Marin residents, public health officials said. Two residents experiencing respiratory symptoms consistent with the disease were admitted and tested Tuesday, one at MarinHealth Medical Center in Greenbrae and the other at Novato Community Hospital, said Dr. Matt Willis, Marin County public health officer.

The MarinHealth patient is the parent of a student at Marin Catholic High School in Kentfield. The student, who is not showing symptoms and not believed to be sick, has been asked to stay home from school until test results come back. Results are returned in about three days, Willis said.

“We have a very low suspicion the person we’re testing has the disease,” Willis said. “This is all out of an abundance of caution.”

Willis said the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has broadened the criteria that prompt testing for coronavirus due to increased community transmission of the disease.

Last week, a coronavirus patient who was quarantined at Travis Air Force Base in Solano County was transferred to Kaiser Permanente Medical Center in San Rafael. That patient, who is not a resident of Marin, was among the passengers evacuated from the Diamond Princess cruise ship in Japan.

“At this stage, it’s about preparedness,” Willis said of the county declaration.

“As we look across what’s happening globally and what’s happening locally here in the Bay Area, it’s likely that we’ll see community transmission of the virus here in Marin County,” he said. “We made the decision to issue this proclamation in order to make resources available for our response: more staffing, more equipment, more collaboration.”

That includes collaborating with first responders, hospital and health care workers, schools and businesses, he said.

With that in mind, county health and education officials have set a community forum on Monday to address questions from the public regarding coronavirus. Marin County health officials along with health experts from Kaiser Permanente will be on hand for the conversation.

The forum is from 6 to 7:30 p.m. at the Marin County Office of Education at 1111 Las Gallinas Ave. in San Rafael.

Two new cases of coronavirus, a disease officially called COVID-19, were reported in Santa Clara County on Tuesday, bringing the total number of cases there to 11. The county announced its first case Jan. 31.

In declaring the emergency, Marin County joins a growing number of Bay Area jurisdictions taking similar action, including San Francisco, Santa Clara, Alameda, Solano, and Sonoma counties, to respond to the burgeoning global issue.

The county’s proclamation provides officials with more flexibility to respond to the coronavirus if needed while also authorizing the county eligibility for reimbursement for related costs from state or federal sources, officials said.

The Board of Supervisors is expected to approve the local health emergency proclamation along with a companion local state of emergency proclamation at its meeting on March 10.

Once that happens, the proclamations would be sent to Gov. Gavin Newsom and the California Office of Emergency Services for consideration to request mutual aid.

Mary Jane Burke, Marin County superintendent of schools, said the community forum session will be live-streamed via Facebook and translation services will be available. Residents can access the live stream at bit.ly/2VI2rvN.

“I think everyone is asking questions trying to understand,” Burke said Tuesday. “In situations like this, the best thing we can do is provide real-time, accurate information to our community.”

Burke along with health officials say the challenge is the ever-evolving news of coronavirus broadcasting developments hourly.

“We’re not in a situation where we have all the answers,” Burke said. “However, our promise is to get information to the public as soon as possible.”

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Coronavirus rates soar in college towns as students return to campus The World Health Organization declared the outbreak a public health emergency of international concern on Jan. 30, and the United States followed the next day by declaring a federal public health emergency.

On Feb. 26, the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed community transmission of coronavirus in the Bay Area, meaning the afflicted patient had no signs of associating with anyone who had been diagnosed with the virus.

In a statement, Dr. Lisa Santora, deputy public health officer, said it’s especially important to protect Marin seniors.

“Nearly one of three Marin residents is over age 60,” she said. “Older adults and those with other existing medical vulnerabilities are at the greatest risk for severe disease if infected with (coronavirus).”