Coronavirus Update for Saturday Feb 29

Oregon confirmed its first known case of the Coronavirus last night. The first case is an employee of Forest Hills Elementary school, located in the Portland suburb of Lake Oswego. The elementary school will be closed at least until this next Wednesday. All scheduled school events across the district were canceled. Washington - One person has died of Coronavirus in King County. It’s the first death attributed to the virus in the United States. Two other people in a Kirkland long-term care facility in Washington also tested positive for the virus A resident in her 70s is in serious condition, and a health employee in her 40s is stable. At the Kirkland facility, 27 residents and 25 employees currently have Coronavirus symptoms but officials are awaiting test results. The care facility in Kirkland has 108 residents and 180 employees, according to the CDC. All three of the announced Coronavirus cases in Washington are a result of community spread. Community spread means spread of an illness for which the source of infection is unknown. Gov. Jay Inslee declared a state of emergency Saturday after the announcement and directed state agencies to use “all resources necessary” to prepare for and respond to the coronavirus outbreak. The declaration also allows the use of the Washington National Guard, if necessary. World Coronavirus Numbers China: 79394 (+435) cases 2838 (+47) deaths Outside of China: 6009 (+1318) cases in 53 (+2) countries 86 (+19) deaths The two new countries added here are Mexico and San Marino. From the WHO “On 28 February, the World Health Organization raised the risk assessment for the #COVID19 outbreak to “very high” globally, based on the spread of the new coronavirus & countries capacity to respond. The risk within China remained unchanged as "very high.” The global COVID-19 risk is very high for following reasons: -increase of international spread of cases -large clusters of cases currently reported outside -limited testing capacity in some countries -potential medical supply shortages -difficulty in identifying cases due to non-specific symptoms & the potential of undetected transmission -potential for major impact on healthcare systems in some affected & potentially affected countries. Here are some Hygiene tips that would be good to put into practice right away: https://roseburg.jointracker.com/posts/5e5a02c8f417fd00043b55cc How Communities can prepare for a Coronavirus outbreak https://roseburg.jointracker.com/posts/5e56bb0a1944e10004927ddd Everything we do before a pandemic will seem alarmist. Everything we do after will seem inadequate -M. Leavitt Links: Seattle Times - King County Death https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/health/one-king-county-patient-has-died-due-to-covid-19-infection/ Statement from the WHO https://twitter.com/DrTedros/status/1233847791648202752?s=20