A woman succumbed to coronavirus in Washington state on Saturday, marking the first death from COVID-19 to occur in the United States.
The Washington Department of Health was first to confirm the fatality followed by President Donald Trump who gave a press briefing about the death. Trump described the coronavirus victim as a “medically high-risk patient in her late 50s,” adding that she was “a wonderful woman.”
Vice President Mike Pence also spoke at the press conference and gave his condolences to the family. “I want to assure that family they are on the hearts of every American,” he said.
The woman who has died is not the only Washington state resident to have been infected with the virus.
The Washington Department of Health also announced Friday that a high school-aged child and an adult woman are likely infected, according to local news. (RELATED: ‘So Far, It Isn’t That Bad’: Man With Coronavirus Reacts To The Panic Surrounding His Condition)
Jackson High School, the school that the potentially infected student attends, announced Friday that the student is under quarantine, along with their family and other students they had contact with. The school is also closed for cleaning through Monday, local news reports.
Bothell High School in Washington also closed its doors on Thursday for disinfection after a staff member went into quarantine following their returning from an international trip Tuesday, according to a local Fox affiliate.
Northshore School District cancelled class out of an abundance of caution over coronavirus concerns. School is being disinfected after an employee & a relative returned from an international trip. The employee is not sick but the relative is. Both are quarantined & being tested pic.twitter.com/6EwgPsAJRf
— Franque Thompson (@FranqueThompson) February 28, 2020
While Saturday’s death marks the first coronavirus death on U.S. soil, it is not the first time an American has succumbed to the disease. A 60-year-old American woman died February 8 in Wuhan, China, according to Fox News.
There are now more than 60 confirmed cases of coronavirus in America, 44 of which originated on the Diamond Princess Cruise Ship, according to NPR.
President Donald Trump has also announced travel restrictions to Iran, Italy and South Korea — all areas that have been heavily affected by the virus.