Characteristics and Outcomes of Coronavirus Disease Patients under Nonsurge Conditions, Northern California, USA, March–April 2020

Abstract

H ealth officials in China first reported a cluster of cases of a new acute respiratory illness associated with a seafood market in Wuhan, China, on December 31, 2019 (1). Less than 1 month later, cases of what would become known as coronavirus disease (COVID-19) were reported in patients in northern California, USA (2). In the San Francisco Bay area counties of Alameda and Santa Clara, COVID-19 cases in travelers returning from Wuhan were confirmed on January 28 and January 31, respectively. As of May 5, 2020, a total of 1,809 laboratory-confirmed cases have occurred in Alameda County (population 1.7 million) and 2,555 cases in Santa Clara County (population 1.9 million); however, these numbers probably vastly underestimate the disease incidence because of the lack of widespread testing in the region early in the epidemic (3,4). Studies from China and Europe have described the clinical presentation of COVID-19, but data from the United States are still emerging (5-9). In addition, current data from the United States have primarily come from hospitals working under high-volume or surge conditions. In this study, we describe the characteristics and outcomes of patients hospitalized in northern California with COVID-19 early in the epidemic under nonsurge conditions.