On Wednesday, the U.S. health officials confirmed the first possible community transmission of the coronavirus in America, leaving citizens concerned over its rapid spread in local cities and towns. Here, community spread is defined as a spread of deadly infection with an unknown source. The patient, who is a resident of Solano Country, left the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention in dilemma on how the California patient contracted the virus, as he doesn’t have a travel history.
Hence, possible that the patient contracted the virus from someone who brought the infection back from another country. Currently, the patient is under observation in Sacramento County. The CDC stated – “It’s possible this could be an instance of community spread of COVID-19, which would be the first time this has happened in the United States.” With this new case, the number has risen to 60 in the U.S, which included people who were evacuated from Wuhan, China or the Diamond Princess cruise ship that was quarantined off the coast of Japan.
Dr Sonia Angell, California’s State Public Health Officer, said it’s been “an evolving situation and California has been monitoring and responding to since COVID-19 cases first emerged in China last year. This is a new virus, and while we are still learning about it, there is a lot we already know.”