Fears are mounting for 50 staff and residents at a nursing facility in Washington state after they have shown coronavirus symptoms, on the same day that the US had its first confirmed coronavirus death.
Fifty-two staff and residents of the nursing facility where two new coronavirus cases have been confirmed are now showing symptoms of the disease, health officials said during a teleconference with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
At the Life Care nursing facility in Kirkland, Washington state, around 27 of the 108 residents and 25 of the 180 staff have some symptoms, including some cases where individuals have contracted pneumonia.
The CDC and local health officials are reportedly sending an emergency response team to the Life Care facility on Sunday to try to control the escalating situation.
This comes as a ‘medically high-risk’ man in his 50s became the first person in the US to die from coronavirus overnight Friday near Seattle, Washington state.
The unnamed man died in a hospital just two miles from the nursing facility where concerns of a mass outbreak are mounting, but officials are maintaining the cases are unconnected.
President Trump misidentified the first patient, calling the man ‘a wonderful woman’.
Trump’s blunder came as he was trying to express his condolences to the family of the patient, adding that the victim was a ‘medically high-risk patient in her late 50s.’
Not one official corrected him or rectified the error after he spoke, including Vice President Mike Pence, who has been tasked by Trump to lead efforts against the virus.
A few hours later, Seattle-area officials had their own press conference to say the victim was a man, noting he was in his 50s and had ‘underlying health conditions’.
It was a man,’ said Dr. Jeff Duchin, the health officer for Seattle and King County, of the deceased patient, adding the patient was a ‘chronically ill person’ with ‘severe risk factors.’
The possible outbreak in the nursing facility comes as it emerged that two new confirmed cases of coronavirus in the state are linked to the home.
At a Saturday press conference, Dr. Jeff Duchin, the health officer for Seattle and King County, confirmed that one of the confirmed cases was a woman in her 40s who works at the facility, who is in satisfactory condition.
Another was a female resident of Life Care in her 70s, who is in serious condition.
Neither had a recent history of travel, suggesting these are additional cases of community spread.
‘We are very concerned about an outbreak in a setting where there are many older people, as we would be wherever people who are susceptible might be gathering,’ said Duchin.
‘We’re going to send a team into the facility tomorrow to do an assessment.’
A team of CDC workers from Atlanta are on route to the facility in efforts to control the outbreak.
He added that older adults and people with underlying health conditions like diabetes, heart or lung disease should be especially careful to protect themselves by washing their hands, not touching their faces, and avoiding contact with people who are sick.
The Life Care facility provides 24-hour care for residents, including physician and nurse coverage, many of whom have long-term and chronic conditions.
News of the potential outbreak in the facility is concerning given the higher danger of coronavirus being fatal to individuals who are less healthy or already have pre-existing conditions.
A spokesperson for Life Care told DailyMail.com that the facility was not accepting any visitors or new admissions, and was monitoring all residents and associates for the virus.
They said the restricted access had only been put in place earlier that morning, the same day the two cases were confirmed and outbreak fears emerged.
The CDC is working with the facility to try to get a handle on the situation, they said, but they said they could not confirm reports that the CDC was sending in an emergency response team that evening.
Executive director Ellie Basham said in a statement that the facility is monitoring the situation closely.
‘Current residents and associates are being monitored closely. As is normal this time of year, there are various cold and flu-like symptoms being exhibited from residents and associates,’ the statement emailed to DailyMail.com read.
‘The health department has advised us to monitor for an elevated temperature, cough and shortness of breath. We’re consulting with the health department and possibly sending patients to a local hospital for formal COVID-19 testing.’
Several Kirkland firefighters have also been quarantined after they responded to Life Care facility over the last week, according to Seattle Times.
‘It impacted multiple crews,’ Kellie Stickney, a city of Kirkland spokesperson, said.
The city has not stated where the firefighters are being quarantined.
The first death in America from the coronavirus came a day after President Trump denounced criticism of his response to the threat as a ‘hoax’ cooked up by his political enemies.
Pence, who has been tapped to lead to virus task force, announced new emergency travel restrictions on Iran, Italy, and South Korea, which have been hit by outbreaks.
Any foreign national who has visited Iran in the past 14 days will be banned from entering the U.S., Pence said.