Global EditionASIA 中文雙語Fran?ais
    World
    Home / World / Americas

    California declares state of emergency over virus

    By AI HEPING in New York | chinadaily.com.cn | Updated: 2020-03-05 11:55
    Share
    Share - WeChat
    File photo of California's Governor Gavin Newsom. [Photo/Agencies]

    The US House of Representatives overwhelmingly passed an $8.3 billion funding bill Wednesday to respond to the growing coronavirus threat as California declared a state of emergency after reporting the first US death outside of Washington state, which itself announced that a 10th person had died from the coronavirus.

    "The State of California is deploying every level of government to help identify cases and slow the spread of this coronavirus," Governor Gavin Newsom said in a statement. "This emergency proclamation will help the state further prepare our communities and our health care system in the event it spreads more broadly."

    California health officials said the first person to die from the virus in the state was an elderly patient in Placer County, near Sacramento.

    The patient, who had underlying health conditions, had been in isolation at a hospital. Officials believe the patient was likely exposed to the virus last month on a cruise ship, which departed from San Francisco to Mexico.

    The number of confirmed cases in California rose to 51 on Wednesday, the most of any state, as health officials in Los Angeles County announced six new cases and declared a state of emergency.

    Three of the patients among the newly confirmed cases had recently traveled to northern Italy, one of the regions hardest hit by the outbreak. The remaining three new cases were either family members of the travelers or worked in close contact with them.

    "This is not a response rooted in panic," said Kathryn Barger, chair of the Los Angeles County Board of Supervisors, in a news conference Wednesday. "We've been preparing with our local, state and federal partners for the likelihood of this scenario."

    Washington state now has at least 39 confirmed infections, according to its health department. The Seattle area was trying to contain a worsening crisis that has seen the virus overrun a suburban nursing home, killing at least seven residents. All 10 of the deaths so far have been reported in the last few days.

    An Amazon employee in Seattle has contracted the novel coronavirus — the first employee among its US workforce to fall ill with COVID-19, the company said.

    The e-commerce giant on Tuesday told employees in an email about the infected employee, who works at Amazon's South Lake Union office complex, where the company's headquarters are located, Bloomberg reported. It was not immediately clear how the employee contracted the virus.

    The region's medical resources are "under incredible stress right now", said Patty Hayes, director of public health for Seattle and King County. "We need to slow the spread of disease to the point where our healthcare system can continue to handle the load."

    There are at least 138 confirmed coronavirus cases in the US, and the number was expected to rise this week as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Wednesday broadened guidelines for coronavirus testing, allowing doctors to order a test for any patients who have symptoms such as fever, cough or difficulty breathing.

    The new standard greatly expands the pool of patients who qualify for testing, but laboratory capacity available to process the tests remains limited.

    In New York, Governor Andrew Cuomo announced four new confirmed cases Wednesday, raising the state's total number of cases to six. The wife and two children of a 50-year-old male resident of Westchester County who was diagnosed with the virus on Tuesday have tested positive. A neighbor who drove the man to the hospital also tested positive, Cuomo said.

    The first major step by Congress to tackle the coronavirus threat in the US came in a 415-2 vote just hours after lawmakers in both chambers struck the bipartisan deal for emergency funding. The Senate is expected to take up the measure this week and then send it to President Donald Trump for signing.

    The bill provides $7.76 billion to agencies combating the coronavirus — three times the $2.5 billion initially requested by the White House in late February.

    It also authorizes roughly $500 million to allow Medicare providers to administer telehealth services so that more elderly patients, who are at greater risk from the virus, can receive care at home, bringing the total to about $8.3 billion.

    The US airline industry has been in the spotlight since the outbreak as the government has restricted travel to select countries, but not domestically.

    On Wednesday, however, United Airlines became the first US carrier to cut domestic flights. United said it would cut domestic and international routes in April in response to the slump in travel demand caused by the spreading coronavirus.

    Domestic capacity will be cut by 10 percent next month from its previous plan, and international flying will be cut by 20 percent, CEO Oscar Munoz and President Scott Kirby said in a message to staff. The cuts could extend into May.

    Among US carriers, United has the largest exposure to international markets, and half the cuts will be on trans-Pacific routes.

    The carrier is also parking some wide-body jets and offering staff members unpaid leaves of absence in the latest effort by airlines to mitigate the impact of virus-related travel restrictions and passenger concerns over flying.

    On Wednesday morning, Trump made a surprise appearance at a meeting Vice-President Mike Pence was holding with US airline CEOs to discuss precautions the carriers were taking to combat the coronavirus outbreak, including new cleaning procedures.

    Asked for his message to Americans about whether they should be afraid to travel, Trump gestured to the airline chief executives and said: "I think where these people are flying, it's safe to fly," adding that if certain areas begin to be more of a problem, "we may close them up".

    Most Viewed in 24 Hours
    Top
    BACK TO THE TOP
    English
    Copyright 1995 - . All rights reserved. The content (including but not limited to text, photo, multimedia information, etc) published in this site belongs to China Daily Information Co (CDIC). Without written authorization from CDIC, such content shall not be republished or used in any form. Note: Browsers with 1024*768 or higher resolution are suggested for this site.
    License for publishing multimedia online 0108263

    Registration Number: 130349
    FOLLOW US
    免费无码黄网站在线看| 天堂√中文最新版在线| 亚洲中文字幕日产乱码高清app| 无码专区久久综合久中文字幕| 最好看2019高清中文字幕| 久久青青草原亚洲av无码| 无码视频一区二区三区在线观看| 日韩欧美一区二区三区中文精品 | 日韩乱码人妻无码中文视频| 久クク成人精品中文字幕| 人妻少妇乱子伦无码视频专区 | 国产在线无码精品电影网| 亚洲AV中文无码乱人伦在线观看| 成人午夜福利免费无码视频| 日日摸日日碰夜夜爽无码| 18禁超污无遮挡无码免费网站| 最近中文字幕高清字幕在线视频 | 人妻中文字幕乱人伦在线| 亚洲无码精品浪潮| 亚洲不卡无码av中文字幕| 精品无码综合一区| 国产精品午夜无码AV天美传媒| 日韩av无码久久精品免费| 无码人妻精品一区二区在线视频| 亚洲成a人片在线观看无码| 久久久久亚洲AV无码观看| 中文字幕在线观看免费视频| 久久婷婷综合中文字幕| 狠狠躁夜夜躁无码中文字幕| 婷婷综合久久中文字幕蜜桃三电影| 影院无码人妻精品一区二区| 中文字幕无码AV波多野吉衣| 日本公妇在线观看中文版| 曰韩无码AV片免费播放不卡| 国产成人一区二区三中文| 中文字幕免费不卡二区| 色欲综合久久中文字幕网| 天堂а√中文在线| 亚洲va中文字幕无码| 国产成人无码av| 免费无码VA一区二区三区 |