California has declared a state of emergency for coronavirus

California is the US state with the highest number of coronavirus cases reported in the United States, 54, and for this reason Governor Gavin Newsom has decided to declare a state of emergency. There is also a dead person: a 71-year-old man who tested positive for coronavirus after traveling on a cruise ship last month. The ship was the Grand Princess of the Princess Cruises company and had left San Francisco on February 11 to reach Mexico and then return to the port of San Francisco on February 21. Hundreds of passengers had disembarked from the ship and as many had boarded to leave for the islands of Hawaii.

The dead person had been hospitalized on February 27th in a hospital in Roseville, County Placer, and had remained in solitary confinement ever since.

According to the most recent data, more than 95 thousand cases of people infected with coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) have been recorded worldwide, and 3,285 deaths. In the United States, the reported infections are 159: 110 emerged directly in the country and 49 as a result of returns from abroad (46 were on board the Diamond Princess ship and 3 were in China). In all 11 people died: 10 lived in Washington state (6 of them died in a retirement home in Seattle) and one, in fact, in California.

– Also read: What is in the government decree on coronavirus

On the return journey of the Grand Princess from Hawaii, 11 passengers and 10 crew members had reported flu-like symptoms, and another crew member had been landed in Hawaii and tested for coronavirus, resulting in a negative result. The ship was expected to dock in San Francisco on Wednesday night, but California authorities denied her landing and forced her to remain in international waters until further tests were carried out on people on board.

At the moment it is not clear whether passengers will have to remain in solitary confinement on the ship – as happened with the Diamond Princess, blocked for days in the port of Yokohama, Japan – or if they will be transferred ashore. Newsom explained during a press conference that half of the approximately 2,500 people who were on board the ship during the trip to Mexico reside in California, and that health authorities are working to track them down.

“The state of California is increasing government efforts below all levels to help identify cases and slow the spread of coronavirus,” said Newsom. “The declaration of a state of emergency includes provisions to protect people from rising prices, especially for medical supplies.”

Also in California, Los Angeles county authorities on Wednesday said 6 new cases of contagion were recorded, including 3 people who had been in northern Italy in recent days, one of the areas most affected by the coronavirus epidemic.

In all, there are 17 states in the United States in which cases of contagion have been found: it is not clear how many people have been tested so far, but Vice President Mike Pence said that 2,500 kits will be distributed in hospitals throughout the country within this week. swabs, with which 1.5 million people can be tested.

– Also read: How a patient with coronavirus is called “cured”

In the meantime, the House of Representatives has approved the allocation of 8.3 billion dollars (just over 7 billion euros) to counter the coronavirus epidemic, which is expected to be approved by the Senate this week too: in recent days the House Bianca had requested the allocation of 2.5 billion dollars, considered however not enough to deal with the emergency, according to MPs.