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Washington Governor Declares State of Emergency Over Coronavirus

Associated Press

   The governor of Washington state declared a state of emergency Saturday
   after a person died there of COVID-19, marking the first such reported
   death in the United States.
   Gov. Jay Inslee directed state agencies to use "all resources
   necessary" to prepare for and respond to the outbreak. The declaration
   also allows the use of the Washington National Guard, if necessary.
   Health officials in California, Oregon and Washington state worried
   about the novel coronavirus spreading through West Coast communities
   after confirming at least three patients were infected by unknown
   means. The patients had not visited an area where there was an
   outbreak, nor apparently been in contact with anyone who had.
   Washington state officials issued a terse news release announcing the
   death there, gave no details and scheduled a news conference. A
   spokesperson for EvergreenHealth Medical Center, Kayse Dahl, said the
   person died in the facility in the Seattle suburb of Kirkland, but gave
   no other details.
   President Donald Trump described the person as being a woman in her
   late 50s and having a high medical risk. He said healthy Americans
   should be able to recover if they contract the new virus.
   Inslee said in a statement the person who died was a man from
   Washington state, but then issued another one removing the gender and
   describing the individual as "a Washingtonian."
   "We will continue to work toward a day where no one dies from this
   virus," the governor said.
   Washington state and King County health officials said "new people
   (have been) identified with the infection, one of whom died." They did
   not say how many new cases there are.
   

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