2 people who died in Santa Clara County in February had tissue samples that tested positive for COVID-19, health authorities found out Tuesday, revealing the novel coronavirus was accountable for deaths in the Bay Location earlier than medical authorities initially thought.
County Executive Jeff Smith validated the test results were gotten Tuesday from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, after being sent to the federal agency by the Medical Examiner-Coroner.
The individuals who were checked posthumously for COVID-19 passed away in the house on February 6 and February 17.
Those two deaths, as well as another death in San Jose on March 6, of a male who later tested positive for COVID-19, occurred before the very first coronavirus death was openly reported in Santa Clara County, on March 9. Health authorities had actually previously thought that death– of 68- year-old Santa Clara resident Azar Ahrabi– to be the first recognized COVID-19 death in the Bay Location.
” We know there was a person identified in late January with the virus– however to have at least three people right around the start of February and late January currently have the infection and two of them pass away indicates the virus has been around for a while,” Smith said.
The origin of these cases is believed to be within the neighborhood, Smith added. That suggests neighborhood transmission of the coronavirus was taking place in Santa Clara County well before the first U.S. case of community-acquired COVID-19 was reported in Solano County on February 26.
” It’s a far more dangerous virus than we at first acknowledged since we had actually limited testing,” Smith said.
In a ready declaration released Tuesday evening, the County of Santa Clara said the individuals passed away at home during a time “when really restricted testing was offered only through the CDC.”
” Evaluating criteria set by the CDC at the time restricted testing to just individuals with a recognized travel history and who looked for treatment for specific symptoms,” the declaration said. “As the Medical Examiner-Coroner continues to thoroughly investigate deaths throughout the county, we anticipate extra deaths from COVID-19 will be identified.”
Santa Clara County has up until now reported 88 coronavirus-related deaths, consisting of five new deaths reported Tuesday. The county now has 1,948 verified cases.
It is unclear how many posthumous coronavirus tests have been sent out to the CDC by the Santa Clara County Medical Examiner-Coroner. According to protocol, Smith stated, nasal swabs are carried out on those decedents who showed flu-like signs prior to death and sent for viral screening that consists of a panel for influenza A and B, parainfluenza, respiratory syncytial infection (RSV) and COVID-19
” COVID-19 is something we’re going to be managing for a very long time, months and likely years,” Santa Clara County public health officer Sara Cody told the county’s Board of Supervisors on Tuesday. “We anticipate this won’t be the only rise, we’ll have other rises that will likely come if we slowed down excessive so we have to be extra mindful to establish the information systems to enable us to monitor what we’re doing.”
