The Sonoma County Department of Health Services on Monday confirmed a presumptive positive case of the novel coronavirus in the county.
A presumptive positive case is defined as likely to be positive for the virus, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will conduct another test to confirm the diagnosis, the Department of Health Services said.
If confirmed, it will be the second case of the virus announced by the county since last Tuesday.
Local, state and federal health agencies are identifying individuals the most recent patient had contact with before being hospitalized, county officials said.
The patient in the presumptive positive case was on a sea cruise between San Francisco and Mexico and has been in the county for 10 days. The patient has symptoms of the virus and is in stable condition in an isolation room at a hospital, the Department of Health Services said.
Last Tuesday, Sonoma County health services officials confirmed a case of coronavirus in a patient being treated at a hospital in the county.
That patient was among the U.S. evacuees from the contaminated Diamond Princess cruise ship in Japan who were flown to Travis Air Force Base in Fairfield, then taken to a Sonoma County hospital. The Department of Health Services said that patient was not infected in Sonoma County. Further details about that person have not been released.
In response to the presence of the coronavirus, the county declared a Local Public Health Emergency and a Local Emergency. Both declarations will be considered for ratification by the Board of Supervisors at a meeting this week.
"This recent presumptive positive case of COVID-19 is a cause for concern, and the County is declaring these emergencies to activate and deploy resources to adequately respond to an increase of cases," Health Officer Celeste Philip said.
"They will allow us to work in tandem with our cities and health care providers to ensure we are prepared to combat an outbreak of COVID-19 in our communities," Philip said.
The county is waiting for test kits for the virus that will be used at its public health lab.
County residents should contact a health care provider if they have symptoms including fever and cough or who have had close contact with someone with symptoms who returned in the last 14 days from China, Italy, Iran, Japan or South Korea, the Department of Health Services said.
