Coronavirus: California declares state of emergency

By Beyza Binnur Donmez

ANKARA (AA) - A state of emergency has been declared in the U.S. state of California after authorities confirmed the first coronavirus-related death Wednesday.

Governor Gavin Newsom made the announcement during a press briefing in Sacramento along with the state health officials.

The incident brings the death toll from the novel coronavirus, officially known as COVID-19, to 11 in the U.S.

Officials in California's Placer County described the victim as elderly with underlying health conditions.

The patient who died was tested and presumptively identified positive for the new coronavirus on Tuesday, prompting the county to declare a public health emergency.

The individual had traveled on a Princess cruise ship that had departed from San Francisco to Mexico and was on the same ship associated with another confirmed coronavirus case in Sonoma County.

Local officials assessed the patient, whose identity was not made publicly available, as having "minimal community exposure" after returning from the cruise and being transported to a local hospital by ambulance on Feb. 27.

Further south in Los Angeles County, officials recorded seven infections and declared a local health emergency.

Overall, 10 local hospital workers and five emergency responders were exposed to the individual before he or she was isolated. They have been put in quarantine, and none of the 15 individuals are currently showing symptoms, according to the county officials.

In the state of Washington, officials announced the 10th death after COVID-19 spread in an elderly living facility. Most of the deaths are linked to patients at the nursing home in the Seattle suburbs.

The elderly are especially susceptible to the disease.

First detected in Wuhan, China in December, the epidemic now present in over 80 countries worldwide.

The global death toll from the virus is over 3,000, with more than 95,000 infected.

Notably, some 52,000 former patients who contracted the virus have recovered.

After declaring the outbreak an international health emergency, last week the World Health Organization raised the global risk level to "very high".

As part of efforts to contain the outbreak, governments have closed borders and suspended land and air travel with the worst-affected countries such as China, Iran, and Italy.