1 person dead in U.S. from coronavirus; Trump addresses nation

Seeking to reassure the American public, President Donald Trump said Saturday there was "no reason to panic" as the new coronavirus claimed its first victim inside the United States, a man in Washington state. The White House also announced new restrictions on international travel to prevent its spread.

On Long Island, the Suffolk County health department announced it has its first potential case of the coronavirus COVID-19.

 "The patient, who was exhibiting symptoms consistent with lower respiratory infection, was not under voluntary home-isolation and is now being tested due to the recently expanded CDC [Centers for Disease Control and Prevention] criteria for individuals who qualify to be tested for the virus," the department said in an email Saturday night. "The samples collected, which include both respiratory and blood samples, were sent to New York State Wadsworth Lab and the patient will remain in isolation at the hospital while the department awaits the results." 

Nassau County has tested six people for COVID-19; all results were negative.

Trump, appearing at a news conference in the White House briefing room with Vice President Mike Pence, said 22 people in the United States had been stricken by the virus, of whom one had died and four were deemed “very ill.” Additional cases were “likely," he added.

The United States has about 60 confirmed cases. Trump's tally appeared to exclude cases of Americans repatriated from China or evacuated from the Diamond Princess cruise ship.

LOCAL DEVELOPMENTS

There were no confirmed COVID-19 cases in New York State. Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo announced Saturday that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration gave the state approval to do its own COVID-19 testing. "That is a big step forward," Cuomo said during an unrelated appearance at Nassau Coliseum in Uniondale. "We'll start testing immediately here in New York, so we can handle more tests, more volume, turn them around faster."

Before Saturday, all tests were conducted by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. That, Cuomo said, delayed results.

"CDC was having an issue dealing with the volume that they were getting from all across the country," he said. 

The Nassau County health department reported Saturday that 74 people were being monitored daily and in voluntary self-isolation, up from 71 reported a day earlier. The Suffolk health department said 20 people there were in home isolation, down from 21 on Friday.

On Saturday afternoon, the New York City health department tweeted that the eighth person tested for the virus in the city has come back negative.

Cuomo said the testing will be at Wadsworth Lab near the state Capitol in Albany, where "we have the capacity to run our own tests, and we have the sophistication in terms of research facilities to run our own tests."

He said he had spoken with Pence — whom Trump appointed to lead the federal government's COVID-19 efforts — a few days ago about granting New York approval for its own testing. 

New York City also received approval to conduct its own tests, Mayor Bill de Blasio said.

"This means we will soon, within the coming week, have the ability to get results back in a matter of hours, not days," de Blasio said in a tweet. "Quick detection is vital to stopping the spread of the virus, and this development will help the experts do their job to protect New Yorkers."

The FDA said in a statement that its approval is for labs in New York and elsewhere to do their own testing using "validated COVID-19 diagnostics."

"To effectively respond to the COVID-19 outbreak, rapid detection of cases and contacts, appropriate clinical management and infection control, and implementation of community mitigation efforts are critical," the FDA said.

WASHINGTON STATE MAN DIES

Trump described the Washington state fatality as someone having a high medical risk before contracting the virus. The man who died was in his 50s and had underlying health conditions, health officials in Washington state said at a news conference.

A spokeswoman for EvergreenHealth Medical Center, Kayse Dahl, said the person died in the facility in the Seattle suburb of Kirkland.

Dr. Frank Riedo, medical director of Infection Control at Evergreen, said local hospitals are seeing people with severe coronavirus symptoms and it’s probable that there are more cases in the community.

Robert Redfield, director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said there was “no evidence of link to travel” abroad in the case of the person who died.

The governor of Washington state, Jay Inslee, declared a state of emergency Saturday after the man's death. Inslee directed state agencies to use “all resources necessary” to prepare for and respond to the outbreak. The declaration also allows the use of the Washington National Guard, if necessary.

Amy Reynolds of the Washington state health department said in a brief telephone interview: “We are dealing with an emergency evolving situation.”

Trump said healthy Americans should be able to recover if they contract the new virus, as he tried to reassure Americans and global markets spooked by the threat. He encouraged Americans not to alter their daily routines, saying the country is “super prepared” for a wider outbreak, adding “there’s no reason to panic at all.”

He added he wasn't altering his own routine either. “You’re talking about 22 people right now in this whole very vast country. I think we’ll be in very good shape.”

Since emerging in China in December, COVID-19 has sickened more than 85,000 people and killed more than 2,800, most of them in China.

Trump’s appearance Saturday also came after health officials disclosed a third case of coronavirus in the United States in someone who had not traveled internationally or had close contact with someone who was known to have the virus.

Health officials in California, Oregon and Washington state are worried about the novel coronavirus spreading through West Coast communities because a growing number of people are being infected despite not having visited an area where there was an outbreak, nor apparently been in contact with anyone who had.

Other developments Saturday:

• Top public health officials announced that the United States was banning travel to Iran and urging Americans not to travel to regions of Italy and South Korea where the virus has been prevalent. Trump said he was considering additional restrictions, including closing the U.S. border with Mexico in response to the virus' spread, but later added: “This is not a border that seems to be much of a problem right now.” Travel to Iran is already quite limited. It is one of the seven initial countries on Trump’s travel ban list, which means travel from Iran also is already severely restricted.
• The Santa Clara County Public Health Department announced Saturday the case of a fourth person in the county infected with coronavirus. The case is of a woman who is a “household contact" of a person who is hospitalized with the virus, the health department said in a news release. The woman has not been hospitalized and is not ill, the department said.
• Officials in Ecuador on Saturday confirmed the first case of the new coronavirus in the South American nation, while Mexico reported two more cases and Brazil one more./li>
• As global markets plunged this week, Trump predicted they will come back and encouraged the Federal Reserve to cut interest rates. “The markets will all come back," he said. "I think the Fed has a very important role, especially psychological. If you look at it, the Fed has a massive impact.”
• Trump took a more measured approach Saturday, a day after he complained that the virus threat was being overblown and that his political enemies were perpetuating a “hoax.” “This is very serious stuff,” he said, but still insisted the criticism of his administration's handling of the virus outbreak was a hoax. On Saturday, Democratic challenger Joe Biden hit back, saying Trump's use of the word “hoax” when discussing the virus was “absolutely dangerous.”

With David Olson and Joie Tyrrell