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Napa County confirms two COVID-19 cases

Updated  March 22, 2020 5:23pm PDT
Coronavirus
KTVU FOX 2

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NAPA, Calif (KTVU) - Napa County announced its first two local cases of COVID-19 on Sunday.

The county's public health department said investigators are now looking into the circumstances surrounding both cases. 

Due to medical privacy issues, authorities are not revealing details about the patients, such as age, gender, or health condition, but they did confirm one patient is located in Napa, and the other in St. Helena.

Officials said there is no known connection between the two cases. 

The county has issued a legal order for both patients to isolate, and for anyone who had close contact with either of them to self-quarantine. 

The general public is advised to continue complying with the statewide shelter-at-home order and practice social distancing of at least 6-feet, when seeking essential services, such as grocery shopping, or going out for fresh air. 

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"With the increase in testing, finding additional cases is not unexpected”, said Dr. Karen Relucio, Napa County’s Public Health Officer. “It is critical that people who develop respiratory symptoms stay at home and isolate themselves from others, even if they still feel well enough to go out. As a community, we need to act now to slow the spread of the virus.” 

Dr. Relucio added that an important priority will be to check the community, and determine the extent of local transmission and evaluate what needs to be done.

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Greg Liggins reports.

Entering Sunday, Napa was the only county in the Bay Area without a resident who tested positive for COVID-19.

In mid-February, Napa County had several people at Queen of the Valley Medical Center, who had tested positive, or was suspected of having the virus. However, the patients did not live in the county and were flown to Travis Air Force Base from Japan, as part of the nation's efforts to evacuate Americans from areas of the world considered at high risk for the coronavirus.

The patients were part of a group of Americans onboard the Diamond Princess cruise ship that ended up quarantined in Japan.

Many passengers were flown to the base in Fairfield. Five people who were identified as needing testing or more medical care went to hospitals in Solano County.

Due to a limited number of isolation beds in Solano County, two other people were taken to the Queen of the Valley Medical Center.