The state of California is now monitoring more than 8,400 residents for coronavirus.
Gov. Gavin Newsom confirmed the number in a press conference Thursday afternoon, during which he said the 8,400 residents were undergoing medical monitoring in 49 jurisdictions.
More than 800 of those 8,400 were evacuated from China. Thousands more arrived in California on their own.
At least 33 individuals have tested positive for coronavirus in California, Newsom said.
Newsom said state officials are in “constant contact” with federal health agencies and is coordinating for response efforts.
“We’re not overreacting nor are we under-reacting,” Newsom said, adding that there is “no better resourced state in America to address this issue head-on.”
California now has 200 coronavirus testing kits on hand and Newsom said they will receive more in the next few days.
The current supply of kits is “simply inadequate to do justice to the kind of testing that is required”, he said.
Newsom said the risk to California remains low, an echo of what President Donald Trump told Americans in a press conference on Wednesday.
Also on Wednesday, the CDC confirmed the first case of community spread of coronavirus had been identified in Sacramento, and officials aren’t sure how the individual contracted the virus.
“The individual had no known exposure to the virus through travel or close contact with a known infected individual,” said a statement from the California Department of Public Health.
Last week, NBC News reported that 5,400 residents in California were self-quarantined over coronavirus concerns.
There are now 53 confirmed coronavirus cases in the United States. Of those cases, 36 involved individuals who were repatriated from the Diamond Princess cruise ship docked in Japan, and another three were repatriated from China. Nineteen cases were originally confirmed in the U.S.
More than 80,000 people have been infected with coronavirus worldwide, and more than 2,600 people have died.
Department of Human Health and Services Secretary Alex M. Azar described the outbreak as “an unprecedented, potentially severe health challenge globally.”
“We cannot hermetically seal off the United States to a virus,” Azar added. “And we need to be realistic about that.”
The Trump administration has made an emergency $2.5 billion request to Congress for funds that will be used to prepare hospitals for a significant coronavirus outbreak in the U.S., as well as escalating vaccine development, though it won’t be available for at least another year.
