Orange County Declares State of Emergency to Deal with COVID-19

Orange County’s Board of Supervisors declared a state of emergency over Covid-19 fears on Wednesday, a day after the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a warning that the U.S. will likely see more cases.

Orange County is the first in Southern California to announce an emergency declaration for the novel coronavirus. San Francisco was the first city in the entire state of California to do so yesterday, despite the city not having any recorded cases of Covid-19

So far, there is only one COVid-19 case in Orange County among the six in the entire state of California. The United States as a whole has 57 known cases, a number that includes those from the Diamond Princess cruise ship.

In related news, Orange County’s Health Care Agency has issued a statement of support for Costa Mesa’s legal action to temporarily halt use of the Fairview Developmental Center as a COVID-19 quarantine facility.

The county will in fact be filing an amicus brief with the United States District Court regarding pending federal litigation in the City of Costa Mesa et. al v. United States of America, et. al. case regarding the use of Fairview for patients testing positive for COVIDー19.

China has recorded 2,715 deaths from COVID-19 and 78,064 confirmed cases of the virus on the mainland since the illness emerged in December.

New outbreaks occurring in far-flung places have been raising concerns about containing the illness and what will happen when it reaches new places.