5 Coronavirus Patients Will Be Transferred To Spokane Hospital

SPOKANE, WA — Five people who recently tested positive for COVID-19, the coronavirus from China, will be transferred to Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center in Spokane, according to local media reports.

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KREM-TV reports the eastern Washington hospital was selected because it has unique "secured airborne infection isolation rooms," which only exist at 10 hospitals in the U.S.

According to the Spokesman-Review, the five patients will arrive within 48 hours, and impacts to normal hospital operations were not expected. It was not immediately clear where the patients were initially diagnosed.

"We are coordinating with local partners to safely transport these patients to Sacred Heart," said Dr. Bob Lutz, Spokane Regional Health District officer. "This is all being done following our jointly developed infectious disease protocols that we train and prepare for. The risk to public from this novel coronavirus remains low."

The Spokane Regional Health District scheduled a news briefing Thursday afternoon.

Nearly 780 people in Washington are currently under public health supervision for potential exposure to the virus, according to the state Department of Health. Among the 26 people tested in the state since Jan. 21, only one person has been determined to have positive results.

In China, where the outbreak originated, the death toll surpassed 2,000 on Wednesday, with nearly 75,000 infections identified since December. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 15 cases have been confirmed in the United States.