An elderly patient who died last week in Washington has tested positive for COVID-19, sparking renewed concern about the transmission of the disease and U.S. health officials’ ability to detect and isolate infected people.
Susan Gregg, a spokeswoman for the Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, said hospital staff were without knowledge of the person’s illness and possibly could have been infected with coronavirus through standard care procedures.
“In coordination with Public Health, we have determined that some staff may have been exposed while working in an intensive care unit where the patient had been treated,” Gregg told the New York Times on Tuesday.
Washington state and Seattle, in particular, have been most affected by the outbreak, and the patient’s death last Wednesday marks the seventh in the nation, including some from the same nursing home.
Washington health officials asked the state legislature to provide more than $100 million in emergency funding to combat the disease as lawmakers debate whether to close schools and postpone public events amid the health crisis. State officials have proposed utilizing motels in the Seattle region to quarantine patients who may be infected with the illness.
More than 2,800 people have died and over 80,000 people have been infected with COVID-19 since the disease spiraled out of control in China late last year.
