Advances in Radiation Oncology
Dinh, Tru-Khang T.; Halasz, Lia M.; Ford, Eric; Rengan, Ramesh.
Introduction
On December 31, 2019, a cluster of cases of severe respiratory syndrome was reported in patients with connection to a seafood market in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China1. Within one week, Chinese health authorities were able to link these cases to a novel, enveloped RNA coronavirus, SARS-CoV-2, now commonly known to cause COVID-192. By February 14, 2020, over 66,000 cases of COVID-19 were reported in China3. On January 19, a 35-year-old man returning from Wuhan to his home in Snohomish County, Washington, presented to urgent care with several days of cough and fever and ultimately tested positive for COVID-19, becoming the first case in the United States. The first COVID-related death occurred 4 weeks later, associated with a separate site, along-term care facility in Kirkland, WA, which rapidly became a cluster of 30 fatal cases as of March 16th. At the writing of this article, March 17th, there are 1,012 confirmed cases in the state of Washington, with 52 deaths, primarily in King County. Evergreen Health, the major medical center in Kirkland has recently declared that they have no remaining critical care capacity.
Keywords
Clinical aspects, diagnosis, treatment