Public health authorities in Santa Clara County, California, announced on Tuesday that 2 people had died from COVID-19 earlier than what was previously thought to be the first death of a COVID-19 client.
According to the statement, Santa Clara’s medical examiner-coroner discovered that the 2 individuals had passed away in the house on February 6 and February 17, indicating the very first death from the virus in the U.S. actually occurred weeks before the first revealed death on February 29 in Washington state.
The county authorities noted that the people had died “when extremely minimal screening was available” by the Centers of Disease Control and Avoidance (CDC), which had just tested people who went to medical centers with “specific signs” and with “a known travel history.”
For that reason, the county’s medical examiner-coroner might find much more sudden deaths, according to the authorities.
” As the Medical Examiner-Coroner continues to thoroughly examine deaths throughout the county, we anticipate additional deaths from COVID-19 will be identified,” they said.
