California declares emergency over coronavirus as death toll rises in US

California has declared a state of emergency after the first US death from the coronavirus outside of Washington state that brought the total number of fatalities to eleven nationwide.

California governor Gavin Newsom announced the emergency on Wednesday, saying “the state is working around the clock to keep our communities safe, healthy and informed.”

The decision was made after health officials reported the death of a 70-year old man from the infection in Placer County, near Sacramento.

He fell ill with the virus on a cruise ship voyage between San Francisco and Mexico last month.

Officials are now trying to locate hundreds of other people, who disembarked from the Grand Princess ship in San Francisco.

The same vessel, bound for Hawaii from San Francisco with 2,500 passengers plus crew, is now held off the California coast after eleven passengers and 10 crew members started showing symptoms of the virus infection on Wednesday.

The Grand Princess belongs to Princess Cruises, the same company which operated the coronavirus-stricken ship held off Japan last month, on which more than 700 people on board tested positive, AFP said.

The ship's return from its current voyage was being delayed to allow "ample timing" for testing of "a number of passengers and crew members that have developed symptoms," Newsom told a press conference.

“The ship will not come on shore until we appropriately assess the passengers,” he added.

More than 130 people have been infected across the US, with the virus detected in more than a dozen states.

As of Wednesday, there have been 53 positive cases of the infection in California, including seven in Los Angeles county and 11 in Santa Clara county, the heart of Silicon Valley. One case was also reported in Berkeley on Tuesday.

Officials in Los Angeles declared a local emergency and a public health emergency in response to the outbreak.

The number of confirmed cases in New York state also rose to 11.

Washington state, which reported a 10th coronavirus death, represents the biggest concentration of cases in the United States from a virus that has killed more than 3,000 people worldwide, mostly in China, where the epidemic originated in December.

Washington state medical staff reported fear and anger among people, who were told they could not be tested for the coronavirus due to limited capacity, Reuters said.

"We have had patients presenting here, angry that they cannot be tested for COVID-19, yelling, cussing, throwing their dirty mask at us and even spitting their secretions on the floor and walls on their way out," a nurse practitioner, who works at an urgent care clinic in the Seattle suburb of Monroe, wrote on Facebook.

Testing was delayed after a first round of kits sent by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) failed and it took weeks for replacements to arrive in states, Reuters added.

Seattle-area health officials urged the people to stay home and away from social gatherings and public places.

A growing number of US companies have allowed their employees to work from home as much as possible amid the nation's largest outbreak.

On Wednesday Microsoft Corp asked its employees in the Seattle region near its headquarters and in the San Francisco Bay Area to work from home if possible.

Meanwhile, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said Republicans and Democrats reached a deal over a roughly $8 billion emergency funding bill to fight the rapidly spreading virus. The Senate is due to vote on the funding on Thursday.

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