Coronavirus: Santa Clara County says 3 died of COVID-19 before US's 1st recorded death on March 9

SAN FRANCISCO -- Santa Clara County officials have determined that three novel coronavirus deaths happened before the first recorded death on March 9.

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The Santa Clara County coroner's office on Tuesday said it has new data which indicates deaths on Feb. 6 and Feb. 17 were both linked to COVID-19.

The coroner's office performed autopsies on two people who died at home on those days. Samples were then sent to the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. On Tuesday, the coroner's office said it had received confirmation that the samples from the two individuals were positive for SARS-CoV-2, the technical name for the strain of coronavirus that causes COVID-19.

A third death from COVID-19 in Santa Clara County was also confirmed on March 6.

Coronavirus Map: Updated number of COVID-19 cases, deaths in San Francisco Bay Area

County officials said it took this long to get results back because, at that time, testing was more limited than it is today.

"These three individuals died at home during a time when very limited testing was available only through the CDC," the coroner's office said."Testing criteria set by the CDC at the time-restricted testing to only individuals with a known travel history and who sought medical care for specific symptoms."

The United States now has more than 825,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 nationwide, by far the most in the world, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. The nation has seen more than 45,000 deaths linked to the virus.

Worldwide there have been more than 2.5 million cases reported, with 177,000 deaths.

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