Officials in Santa Clara County, Calif., announced late Tuesday that two residents there died of the coronavirus in early and mid-February, making them the earliest known victims of the pandemic in the United States.The county’s medical examiner-coroner said that autopsies of two people who died at their homes on Feb. 6 and Feb. 17 showed that the individuals were infected with the virus.
The first publicly known coronavirus-related death in the United States was not reported until Feb. 29 in the Seattle area, although officials there later discovered that two people who had died Feb. 26 also had the virus.“Each one of those deaths is probably the tip of an iceberg of unknown size,” said Dr. Sara Cody, the chief health officer of Santa Clara County.
The first publicly known coronavirus-related death in the United States was not reported until Feb. 29 in the Seattle area, although officials there later discovered that two people who had died Feb. 26 also had the virus.“Each one of those deaths is probably the tip of an iceberg of unknown size,” said Dr. Sara Cody, the chief health officer of Santa Clara County.
