美国加利福尼亚州圣克拉拉县公共卫生部门21日发布通报称，两名今年2月间死于家中的居民如今被确认死于感染新冠病毒。
此前，一位2月29日在华盛顿州逝世的五旬患者被认为是美国出现的首例新冠死亡案例，而这个最新发现将美国首例死亡病例的出现时间提前至2月6日。
Health officials in California's Santa Clara County have identified two people who died from the new coronavirus in early and mid-February, making them the earliest known victims of the outbreak in the United States.
It was previously thought that the first U.S. death from COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by the virus, was a man in his 50s who died in Washington state on February 29.
圣克拉拉县公共卫生部门的通报显示，验尸官对在2月6日、17日死于家中的两人进行了尸检，并将样本送检。4月21日，圣克拉拉县公共卫生部门收到美国疾控中心的确认：两名死者的新冠病毒核酸检测均为阳性。
当地验尸官还确认，该地三月初一例死亡病例的死因亦为新冠肺炎。
"The Medical Examiner-Coroner performed autopsies on two individuals who died at home on February 6, 2020 and February 17, 2020", Santa Clara County Public Health said in a statement.
"Today, the Medical Examiner-Coroner received confirmation from the CDC that tissue samples from both cases are positive for SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19)," the statement added.
The county's medical examiners also confirmed on Tuesday that another death there early in March was caused by COVID-19.
据《纽约时报》报道，圣克拉拉县卫生部门主管萨拉·科迪称这两名于二月份去世的死者没有任何已知的，能让他们接触到病毒的旅行史，他们被认为是通过社区传播感染了病毒。
而该县的县长，医学博士杰弗里·史密斯则表示，这些新发现的死亡病例表明冠状病毒可能在人们发觉之前已经传播了相当长的一段时间。
The newly reported deaths suggest that the coronavirus may have been spreading in California much earlier than was previously known, said Dr. Jeffrey V. Smith, the Santa Clara county executive and a medical doctor.
"It was probably around unrecognized for quite some time," Dr. Smith said.
圣克拉拉县公共卫生部门在通报中表示，这些死亡病例发生时，美国国内的检测能力十分有限，且当时美国疾控中心的检测范围仅限于有疫区旅行史和出现特定症状的人群。
当地卫生官员称，新近确诊的新冠肺炎死亡病例只是“冰山”一角，预计更多以前未发现的新冠肺炎死亡病例可能被确认。
The victims died at home during a time when very limited testing was available only through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), according to the statement, which added that additional deaths from the outbreak were expected to be identified.
The testing parameters set at the time by the CDC restricted testing to individuals with a known travel history and who sought medical care for specific symptoms.
News of the deaths in California could improve public health officials' understanding of how the outbreak took hold in the United States.
4月22日，加州州长纽森在疫情新闻发布会上表示，他已要求专业人士对全州可能与新冠肺炎有关的死亡案件进行重新审查，最早的死亡病例可能会追溯到去年12月份。
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