Previously Unknown Bay Area Coronavirus Death Was Nation's First

SANTA CLARA COUNTY, CA — One person in Santa Clara County died of COVID-19 more than a month earlier than officials initially thought the first death occurred, the officials said Tuesday.

The fatality is the first known COVID-19-related death in the United States.

The individual, who died Feb. 6, and two others all died before what was thought to be the county's first death on March 9.

The other two deaths occurred on Feb. 17 and March 6. All three people died at home.

Previously, the first known coronavirus-related death in the United States was reported in the Seattle area in late February.

“What these deaths tell us is that we had community transmission, probably to a significant degree, far earlier than we had known, and that indicates that the virus was probably introduced, and circulating in our community far earlier than we had known,” Santa Clara County Health Officer Dr. Sara Cody said during a press conference Wednesday morning broadcast on Facebook.

County officials made the discoveries when autopsies were done on the two people who died in February and tissue samples from the two were sent to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Full coronavirus coverage: California Coronavirus: Latest Updates On Cases, Orders, Closures

Confirmation from the CDC came back Tuesday. Santa Clara County's medical examiner confirmed the infection in the third person.

County officials said the three people who died did so when testing for COVID-19 was limited to people who had traveled or who went to the doctor for symptoms.

The CDC was responsible for setting those guidelines and at that time was doing all the testing. Since then, tests and results have become available in the county and in the Bay Area.

County officials said they may make more of the same discoveries.

Patch editor Gideon Rubin contributed to this report

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