Coronavirus patient at UC Davis Medical Center since Feb. 19 wasn’t tested for days
»» What to know about coronavirus in California: Find more updates here.
• • •
The Solano County resident who is the nation’s first confirmed case of coronavirus from “exposure in the community” has been under the care of UC Davis Medical Center for a week, according to an internal memo obtained Wednesday night by The Sacramento Bee.
Just before 10 p.m., the hospital published the memo that was sent to employees by UC Davis Health leaders earlier in the day and outlines the timeline of the patient’s admission and disclosed that several employees who were exposed to the patient self-isolate at home “out of abundance of caution.”
The patient, whom the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirmed has tested positive the COVID-19 strain, was moved to the Sacramento teaching hospital on Feb. 19, according to the memo sent to staffers by David Lubarsky, the head of the hospital and UC Davis Health’s vice chancellor of human health services, and Brad Simmons, the health system’s interim CEO.
“This is not the first COVID-19 patient we have treated, and because of the precautions we have had in place since this patient’s arrival, we believe there has been minimal potential for exposure here at UC Davis Medical Center,” the memo said.
The patient was transferred to the facility from another hospital, where a medical team had already put the patient on a ventilator.
“The individual is a resident of Solano County and is receiving medical care in Sacramento County. The individual had no known exposure to the virus through travel or close contact with a known infected individual,” California Department of Public Health officials said in a news release.
Because physicians at the first hospital suspected the patient had a virus, they issued an order that health care workers should wear personal protective gear when with the patient to guard against exposure to droplets, said the memo, which was first reported by the Davis Enterprise newspaper.
The UCD medical team used the proper infection protocols out of concern that the individual might have coronavirus, according to the memo, and upon the patient’s admission, UCD physicians requested that public health officials perform a test to determine whether the person had COVID-19.
“We requested COVID-19 testing by the CDC, since neither Sacramento County nor CDPH is doing testing for coronavirus at this time,” the memo says. “Since the patient did not fit the existing CDC criteria for COVID-19, a test was not immediately administered. UC Davis Health does not control the testing process.”
On Sunday, the CDC ordered a coronavirus test on the patient, and UC Davis Health officials discovered Wednesday that the patient tested positive for the deadly respiratory illness that causes coughing, fever and shortness of breath. That prompted hospital officials to tell “a small number” of hospital workers to stay home and monitor themselves for possible infection.
“Just as when a health care worker has a small chance of exposure to other illnesses, such as TB or pertussis, we are following standard CDC protocols for determination of exposure and surveillance,” the memo said. “So, out of an abundance of caution, in order to assure the health and safety of our employees, we are asking a small number of employees to stay home and monitor their temperature.”
“We are handling this in the same way we manage other diseases that require airborne precautions and monitoring,” the memo said, adding hospital officials are “in constant communication with the state health department and the CDC and Sacramento County Public Health about the optimal management of this patient and possible employee exposures.”
UCD officials did not respond to The Bee’s request for comment.
The memo ended: “We are dedicated to providing the best care possible for this patient and continuing to protect the health of our employees who care for them.”
State public health officials in Sacramento, citing the CDC, said the case is the first person-to-person transmission of a person who was not in close contact with a person who contracted the virus in China.
Earlier cases of person-to-person transmission in Illinois and in San Benito County came “after close, prolonged interaction with a family member who returned from Wuhan, China, and had tested positive for COVID-19,” state health officials said in their Wednesday statement.
Dr. Sonia Angell, the state’s public health officer, called the outbreak an “evolving situation” that the state had been monitoring since the first cases in China late last year. but added “there is a lot we already know.”
“We have been anticipating the potential for such a case in the U.S., and given our close familial, social and business relationships with China, it is not unexpected that the first case in the U.S. would be in California,” Angell said in prepared remarks.
In such cases, public health officials trace the person’s contacts as they sleuth out where and how the person may have become infected and whether others have been exposed.
President Donald Trump briefed reporters Wednesday at the White House on the federal response to the outbreak. Vice President Mike Pence will lead the government’s response to the virus, Trump said.
To date, public health officials worldwide have reported 2,798 deaths resulting from the coronavirus, 94 percent of them in mainland China. More than 82,100 cases of the illness have confirmed globally. All but 3,332 of those cases have been in China.
»» Read more on this developing story here: First U.S. coronavirus case of unknown origin confirmed in Northern California, CDC says
This story was originally published February 26, 2020 at 9:28 PM with the headline "Coronavirus patient at UC Davis Medical Center since Feb. 19 wasn’t tested for days."
.JPG)
