The Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department Friday afternoon announced a positive case of COVID-19, or coronavirus, in the county.

It is the first case confirmed from Pierce County.

Dr. Anthony Chen, director of the Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department, said the patient is a man in his 50s with underlying health conditions. He is at St. Anthony Hospital in Gig Harbor receiving treatment.

“This patient is stable and improving,” Chen said at a Friday evening news conference in Tacoma.

The man went to the hospital March 4 with symptoms similar to pneumonia. He tested negative for that. A test was ordered for COVID-19 and performed by the University of Washington. It came back positive for coronavirus, Chen said. The department is awaiting confirmation from the state health lab.

Investigators now will be working to determine who the man has had contact with and where he might have acquired the disease, Chen said. Chen said his department will be trying to determine as much as possible about the man’s recent activities, including whether he’s been working and where he’s been.

“This is potentially a marathon for us here in Pierce County,” said Edie Jeffers, health department spokeswoman.

Chen said there are no plans for the health department to call for the cancellations of schools or public events at this time.

“This is one case,” said Nigel Turner, communicable disease division director at the health department. “It doesn’t represent ongoing community transmission.”

Turner said the man has not traveled internationally or outside the county. The patient has been cooperating with investigators, Turner said.

Turner said the man had symptoms a few days before going to the hospital.

The first Pierce County confirmed case follows news that the county received at least one infected patient from Kirkland senior care center, where a coronavirus outbreak has lead to most of Washington’s 15 fatalities.

Turner said the situation is so fluid the department is unsure how many of the 15 patients removed from the Life Care Center in Kirkland on Thursday are being transferred to Pierce County hospitals. Local hospitals have confirmed at least one patient in Good Samaritan.

Pierce County Executive Bruce Dammeier said the county has been preparing for the virus to be confirmed in Pierce County, a sentiment echoed by Chen.

“We knew this was going to happen,” Chen said. “There is no wall between Pierce County and King County. A lot of people go north every day.”

King County has confirmed a number of cases and experienced deaths from the disease this week.

Turner said the county has approved “a few handfuls” of cases for COVID-19. The fact that more labs have begun testing has allowed for a quicker turnaround, and this case proved that, Dammeier said.

WHAT IS A CORONAVIRUS

Coronaviruses are a family of viruses responsible for illnesses ranging from the common cold to SARS, or Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome, and MERS, or Middle East Respiratory Syndrome, the World Health Organization says.

The virus gets its name from the “crown-like spikes” on its surface, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention say.

This illness respiratory illness also goes by the name novel coronavirus and the code 2019-nCoV. It is a viral respiratory illness that spilled over into people from bats, said Christine Kreuder Johnson, a professor of epidemiology and ecosystem health at the University of California, Davis.

The other six include a couple of other viruses that grabbed headlines over the last decade — SARS, or severe acute respiratory syndrome, and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome, or MERS. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and other health organizations worldwide are basing their estimate of this new virus’ incubation period on that of the MERS incubation period. MERS first appeared in Saudi Arabia in 2012 and has since spread around the world. Its symptoms typically start to appear about 5 or 6 days after a person is exposed, but that can range from 2 to 14 days.

WHAT IS COVID-19?

COVID-19 is the official name for the infectious disease caused by the most recently discovered coronavirus, WHO says. The virus and disease were not previously known.

The name comes from the words Coronavirus Disease 2019, Vox reported. But it took some work to come up with it.

“We had to find a name that did not refer to a geographical location, an animal, an individual, or a group of people, and which is also pronounceable and related to the disease,” said WHO chief Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, according to the publication.

Scientists had previously been calling it the 2019 Novel Coronavirus, since it was a new, or novel, strain of the virus discovered in 2019.

HOW DOES THE INFECTION SPREAD?

Like many viruses, the COVID-19 virus spreads chiefly by respiratory droplets, created when people sneeze, cough, talk or blow their noses, The Scientist reports.

Other people within 6 to 8 feet inhale the droplets, which contain the virus, spreading the infection, according to the publication.

The virus also may spread when someone touches a surface infected by the droplets, then touches their mouth or face, The Scientist reports. But researchers are still working to find out how long the virus can survive outside the body.

It’s also possible the virus could survive in tinier airborne droplets, which can spread farther than respiratory droplets, Johns Hopkins Medicine says.

HOW TO PROTECT YOURSELF

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suggest avoiding close contact with people who are sick, avoiding touching your eyes, nose, and mouth, staying home when you are sick, covering your cough or sneeze with a tissue and cleaning and disinfecting frequently touched objects and surfaces using a regular household cleaning spray or wipe.

The agency also advises washing your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds, especially after going to the bathroom; before eating; and after blowing your nose, coughing, or sneezing.

Public health agencies worldwide also are ensuring that there is good public messaging around all the best practices for preventing disease transmission, Johnson said. The CDC, for instance, has created a really good website that answers questions, provides guidance to travelers and counsels health care professionals. It’s https://bit.ly/coronavirus-facts.

STAY CALM AND CALL YOUR DOCTOR FIRST

How do you know if you or your sick loved one with a cough, shortness of breath and fever actually is infected with the coronavirus or is just suffering from another cold or flu?

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says your first step is to call your healthcare professional if you develop symptoms and have been in contact with a person known to have COVID-19 or traveled to an area where coronavirus is widespread.

Your healthcare provider then will work with the Washington State Department of Health and CDC to determine if you need to be tested for COVID-19, according to the CDC website.

The state’s Healthcare Provider & Facility Guidance on SARS-COV-2 — the cause of COVID-19 — lists the four criteria set Feb. 28 by the Department of Health to determine who should be tested as:

▪ People who present either a fever or lower respiratory symptoms and have had close contact with someone who tested positive for COVID-19 within 14 days of symptoms onset.

▪ People who present both fever and lower respiratory symptoms that require hospitalization and traveled to an area where COVID-19 is widespread within 14 days of onset.

▪ People who have a fever with a severe respiratory illness (such as pneumonia) that requires hospitalization and for whom no other explanation for the diagnosis exists.

▪ A local health officer requests testing.

— David Rasbach, The Bellingham Herald