First coronavirus death hits Santa Clara County

March 9, 2020, 1:02 p.m.

Santa Clara County has seen its first death from coronavirus, the county’s public health department announced on Monday.

The woman, in her 60s, was the third reported case of coronavirus in the county and the first infected “without any known history of international travel or contact with a traveler or infected person,” according to the county. She passed away Monday morning after several weeks of hospitalization at El Camino Hospital in Mountain View.

“The Public Health Department is taking necessary, carefully considered steps to slow down the spread of the disease and to protect those at greatest risk,” wrote County health officer Sara Cody in the press release.

As of Sunday, the health department had confirmed 37 cases in Santa Clara — at least seven of which have no relevant exposure to other known patients. Stanford saw its own first publicly confirmed case on Friday evening when School of Medicine Dean Lloyd Minor announced that a faculty member working at a clinic had tested positive for coronavirus. 

Two undergraduate students were previously in self-isolation on campus after possible coronavirus exposure, and other students have since been tested as well, according to the University. It also reported on Sunday that it is not aware of any tests results that have come back positive for coronavirus among Stanford students. 

Contact Elena Shao at eshao98 ‘at’ stanford.edu.

Elena Shao '21 is from Suwanee, Georgia. At The Daily, she is a Managing Editor for News. Outside, she's studying political science. She also enjoys learning foreign languages and is hoping to pursue a career as an investigative and data journalist. Contact her at eshao98 'at' stanford.edu.

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