4-18 Four deaths in Washington state These are the first deaths due to Covid-19 on US soil. Washington declared a state of emergency over the weekend. Five of the deaths occurred in King County, whose main city is Seattle. There are now 18 confirmed cases in the region, and there are growing fears it may spread further. Researchers who studied the first two Washington deaths had said the virus may have been spreading there for weeks, and suggested that up to 1,500 people may have been infected. Eight of the 14 cases in King County, and four of the deaths, are linked to one care facility. Most of those who died were elderly or had underlying health conditions. Elsewhere in the US on Monday: New York Governor Andrew Cuomo said the state's first case was a 39-year-old female healthcare worker who had been in Iran before returning to the US last week The woman did not take public transportation and is not believed to have been contagious either on the plane or in the car returning home. Her spouse, also a healthcare worker, is being tested Officials in Florida said a man in his 60s and a woman in her 20s who had returned from northern Italy had tested positive President Trump met pharmaceutical companies in the White House to discuss possible vaccines Vice-President Mike Pence said federal officials plan to meet executives from the airline and cruise industries to discuss safeguards pallisades Coronaviris mania hits the supermarkets! ShopRite of Palisades Park scarred Autopsies offer key clues for early stage COVID-19 patients Autopsies show severe damage to COVID-19 patients' lungs and immune system, according to a doctor in Wuhan reached by the Global Times, who called for measures to prevent fibrosis of the lungs at an early stage of the disease. "The influence of COVID-19 on the human body is like a combination of SARS and AIDS as it damages both the lungs and immune systems," Peng Zhiyong, director of the intensive care unit of the Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University in Wuhan, told the Global Times on Friday. Peng said he had just talked to Liu Liang, a forensic specialist from the Tongji Medical College at Huazhong University of Science and Technology. Liu's team has reportedly conducted nine autopsies on deceased COVID-19 patients as of February 24. "The autopsy results Liu shared inspired me a lot. Based on the results, I think the most important thing now is to take measures at an early stage of the disease to protect patients' lungs from irreversible fibrosis," Peng noted. If irreversible damage is done, other measures, like those to prevent patients from oxygen deficit, will not be of much use, he said. Liu's team published a paper on an autopsy they conducted in the Journal of Forensic Medicine on Tuesday.

sf 43/26/8700 43 confirmed cases in California 26 confirmed cases in the Bay Area 8,700 Californians in self-quarantine By CHRONICLE DIGITAL TEAM | LAST UPDATED: March 2, 2020 world Canada asks travellers from Iran to self-isolate; WHO worries about Iran, South Korea, Italy, Japan China sees lowest number of new coronavirus cases since January. Outbreaks in South Korea, Italy, Iran and Japan are 'our greatest concern,' WHO director says. More than 89,000 cases of COVID-19 reported around the world, more than 3,000 dead. Canada has 27 cases, now asking travellers returning from Iran to self-isolate. U.S. death toll rises to 6. WATCH: Infectious disease expert talks about the possibility of more cases in Canada.