Today we learned a patient we are treating here at UC Davis Medical Center for the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) is being investigated by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) as possibly the first patient to have received the infection from exposure in the community.
This patient was transferred to us from another Northern California hospital. Since the patient arrived with a suspected viral infection, our care teams have been taking the proper infection prevention (contact droplet) precautions during the patient’s stay.
Upon admission, our team asked public health officials if this case could be COVID-19. We requested COVID-19 testing by the CDC, since neither Sacramento County nor the California Department of Public Health is doing testing for coronavirus at this time. Since the patient did not fit the existing CDC criteria for COVID-19, a test was not immediately administered. UC Davis Health does not control the testing process.
For the full story, visit USDavis.edu/News.
