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Tulare County has confirmed its second case of COVID-19 coronavirus i as many days.

Tulare County Public Health Officer Dr. Karen Haught said the individual is in "stable condition" and is self-isolating at home as of Friday evening.

The individual traveled out of the area to the Bay Area before showing symptoms, she said. Tulare County Public Health Branch is currently conducting an investigation with Kaweah Delta, where the patient was tested for the novel coronavirus.

“We are hoping this patient recovers fully,” Haught said. “The safety and well-being of our community remains our top priority and our staff are working around the clock to ensure our community remains safe.”

Investigators with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the California Department of Public Health are working to trace the patient's steps to locate and identify people they may have contacted.

"It has been determined that Kaweah Delta employees followed proper infection prevention protocols throughout contact with the individual and there is no reason to believe that anyone was infected during this time," hospital officials said, adding they continue to follow CDC guidelines. "Kaweah Delta is closely monitoring all employees who came in contact with the patient, and will test and treat anyone who displays symptoms."

Due to protected health information requirements and to maintain the patient’s identity, no further information regarding the patient was disclosed.

“We are committed to the health and safety of this community and we continue to work tremendously hard to ensure that we are doing everything possible to keep patients, staff, and visitors safe,” Kaweah Delta CEO Gary Herbst said. “We have a dedicated team that works on infection prevention measures year-round, but we established a dedicated task force to help us improve our plan as COVID-19 has evolved.”

Effective immediately, Kaweah Delta activated an incident command center in the Medical Center that will be staffed around the clock to ensure the hospital can immediately respond to any situations.

Friday's announcement came hours after Visalia Unified School District announced it would cancel all classes until at least April 14, joining several school districts across the state and country in an effort to fight the spread of the virus.

President Donald Trump declared a national emergency in response to the virus earlier Friday with the global death toll topping 5,000 people.

On Wednesday night, health officials announced Tulare County's first confirmed COVID-19 case. That patient was treated in Porterville at Sierra View Medical Center and is also self-isolating at home and expected to recover.

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The first patient traveled to Southern California shortly prior to experiencing symptoms, officials said on Friday. Sierra View and HHSA have identified and notified the individuals who may have come into contact with the patient. Those individuals are now under self-quarantine.

There are 66 people under self-quarantine in Tulare County as of Friday. The Tulare County Health Lab has processed 150 COVID-19 tests throughout the Central Valley, 54 of them in Tulare County, specifically.

The county has 250 remaining tests provided by the state with the ability to process about 20 tests per day.

"We have continued to maintain a fast turnaround time for every test ordered and performed at our lab," stated Tammie Weyker-Adkins, HHSA public information officer. "We welcome the extra capacity in the system that commercial laboratories and test kits will provide."

There are two other COVID-19 cases in the region, one each in Fresno and Madera counties. Statewide, there are 247 confirmed cases as of Friday morning.

Officials said they expect the number of confirmed cases to ballon rapidly as more tests become available and the criteria for being tested is loosened.

Supervisors are expected to declare a local emergency at Tuesday's board meeting in order to leverage money at the state and local level to battle the spread of the virus.

Coronavirus, explained: Everything to know about Covid-19, the deadly virus alarming the world

COVID-19 can be controlled by appropriate public health action such as surveillance, identification and isolation of cases, infection control, intense contact tracing, and isolation of persons who may have been exposed to COVID-19.

"Although it may seem like an inconvenience, it is temporary and essential for containment," Haught said.

If community members have traveled to other areas with community transmission or areas of risk or have a fever with lower respiratory symptoms and trouble breathing, call your primary care physician for further assistance. Call 2-1-1 for questions about COVID-19 or to be placed into contact with our communicable disease staff, and call before you visit a local hospital.

The COVID-19 infection can be transmitted from person to person via airborne droplets such as coughing or sneezing. It is highly contagious and characterized by either mild cold-like symptoms, or it can be a more severe lung infection with a fever.

Joshua Yeager covers water, agriculture, parks and housing for the Visalia Times-Delta and Tulare Advance-Register newspapers. Follow him on Twitter @VTD_Joshy. Get alerts and keep up on all things Tulare County for as little as $1 a month. Subscribe today.