San Francisco's first 2 cases of coronavirus were just confirmed - authorities say the disease is likely being transmitted in the city

Aaron Holmes

Mar 6, 2020, 01:22 IST

San Francisco's first 2 cases of coronavirus were just confirmed - authorities say the disease is likely being transmitted in the city

Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Authorities have confirmed two cases of coronavirus in San Francisco, mayor London Breed announced Thursday afternoon.
The two patients are unrelated and did not have any history of travel to countries with known coronavirus outbreaks.
Both patients are being cared for in San Francisco hospitals. One is in "fair" condition and one is in "serious" condition.
"We do not know at this point how they were exposed to the virus, which suggests it is spreading in the community. We expected that to happen," said San Francisco public health director Grant Colfax.
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San Francisco authorities have confirmed the first two cases of coronavirus in the city, Mayor London Breed announced in a news conference Thursday.

"Today we are announcing the first two cases of coronavirus in our city," Breed said. "These individuals are contained ... and I want to be clear that we have been planning this for weeks and we are prepared as a city."

Breed declared a city-wide state of emergency last week.

The two patients tested positive for coronavirus and results were communicated to the city Thursday morning, according to San Francisco public health director Grant Colfax. They are being treated in isolation at two San Francisco hospitals.

Neither patient had a history of travel to a location with confirmed COVID-19 cases and neither have had contact with a person with a confirmed COVID-19 case, according to Colfax. It appears that they contracted the virus through community transmission in San Francisco, Colfax added.

"We do not know at this point how they were exposed to the virus, which suggests it is spreading in the community. We expected that to happen," Colfax said.

One patient is a man in his 90s who is hospitalized and in "serious condition," according to Colfax. The other is a woman in her 40s, who is hospitalized and in "fair condition." The city will not identify the hospitals in which patients are being treated.