Updated Mar 3, 0600 UTC to update total US cases, including the first cases in Georgia and New Hampshire.


A healthcare worker in New York City is one of the latest confirmed cases of COVID-19 in the United States and the first in the city of 8.6 million people, NY governor Andrew Cuomo said on March 2.

Also on Monday, Washington State health officials announced four additional deaths from coronavirus, bringing the state’s death toll to six people, the Washington Post reported. All six deaths in the United States have been in Washington State.

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New York City

Cuomo said in a press conference that the NYC case is a 39-year-old healthcare worker who had been working in Iran then returned to New York on Feb 25. “We don’t believe she was contagious while she was on the plane or when she took a private car from the airport to her residence,” Cuomo explained, adding the patient did not take public transportation. The woman’s condition is “mild” Cuomo said, and she is isolated at home with her husband.

“There is no doubt that there will be more cases where we find more people who test positive … this is New York, we’re a gateway to the world,” Cuomo said at the press conference, emphasizing the response is about containment. The city and state will ramp up its testing capacity and push forward a bill to authorize $40 million for testing, cleaning, and healthcare facility support.

Cuomo added in a March 2 tweet that New York State would employ new cleaning protocols at schools and in public transport to stop any potential spread of coronavirus.

The case in New York brings the national total to 105 cases. Since Feb 29, new infections have been reported in California, Florida, Georgia, Oregon, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Washington State.

Washington State

As of March 2, six US deaths have been reported, all in Washington State:

  • The first COVID-19 death was reported Saturday Feb 29 in King County, Wash, near Seattle, which prompted a national press conference by President Trump and members of his administration.
  • On Sunday Mar 1, a second death was reported in a male patient in his 70s with underlying conditions. The man was hospitalized at at Evergreen Health in Kirkland, WA.
  • Then on Monday Mar 2, USA Today reported three additional deaths in Washington State. The three latest victims were women in their 70s and 80s, USA Today reported.
  • Hours later on Mar 2, The Washington Post reported that health officials announced an additional death, bringing the day’s total to four and overall deaths to six.

According to the Washington Post, a genetic analysis found that COVID-19, has been spreading undetected for about six weeks in Washington state. 

At least 48 schools in western Washington State were closed on Monday over coronavirus concerns, according to CNN.

CDC officials continue to emphasize the risk to the general public remains low, but “reports of community spread in California, Oregon & Washington raise concern about the immediate threat for COVID-19 for certain communities in the US,” the agency said in a Mar 1 tweet.

Photo Credit: CDC / Hannah A Bullock; Azaibi Tamin.