First US coronavirus death came weeks before previously thought

美国2月初已出现新冠病毒感染死亡病例

Two people who died in California in early and mid-February were confirmed Tuesday as coronavirus cases. The first of those deaths came weeks before what was thought to be the first COVID-19 fatality in the United States. The earliest US death attributed to the new coronavirus was previously thought to have been on February 26 in Kirkland, Washington.

当地时间周二（4月21日），于2月初和2月中旬在加利福尼亚州去世的两名美国人被确认为新冠病毒感染死亡病例。其中，2月初的死亡病例比此前认为的美国首例死亡病例还要早几周。此前，美国首例新冠病毒感染死亡病例被认为于2月26日发生在华盛顿州柯克兰。

Autopsies on the two individuals who died at home on February 6 and February 17 showed they succumbed to COVID-19, the Santa Clara County coroner said, after receiving confirmation from the federal Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

在收到美国疾病控制和预防中心的确认后，美国加利福尼亚州圣克拉拉县的验尸官说，对2月6日和2月17日在家死亡的两名美国人的尸体解剖显示，他们因新冠病毒感染死亡。

Another person who passed away in Santa Clara County on March 6 also died of the disease caused by the coronavirus, the medical examiner-coroner said in a statement.

这名医疗验尸官在一份声明中说，3月6日在圣克拉拉县去世的另一名死者也死于新冠病毒引发的疾病。

"These three individuals died at home during a time when very limited testing was available only through the CDC," the coroner said.

验尸官说：“这三名患者死于家中，当时新冠病毒检测只有通过美国疾病控制和预防中心才能进行，数量非常有限。”

"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."

“美国疾病控制和预防中心当时制定的检测标准是，只对有已知旅行史和因特定症状就医的个人进行检测。”

The coroner's office said it expected to identify more coronavirus-related fatalities in Santa Clara.

验尸办公室表示，预计圣克拉拉县将发现更多与新冠病毒有关的死亡病例。

"As the medical examiner-coroner continues to carefully investigate deaths throughout the county, we anticipate additional deaths from COVID-19 will be identified."

“随着医疗验尸官继续仔细调查整个县的死亡情况，我们预计会发现更多与新冠病毒有关的死亡病例。”

Health experts say a shortage of test kits means the United States may be underestimating the extent of the virus outbreak.

卫生专家说，缺少检测工具意味着美国可能低估了病毒暴发的规模。

A study this week indicated that the novel coronavirus was likely far more widespread than official figures suggest.

本周的一项研究表明，新冠病毒的传播范围很可能比美国官方数字显示的要广得多。

Blood samples taken from 3,300 volunteers in Santa Clara County showed the true number of COVID-19 cases was at least 50 times higher than the number of confirmed infections in the county, according to the study by Stanford researchers.

斯坦福大学开展的一项研究显示，从圣克拉拉县3300名志愿者身上采集的血液样本显示，该县新冠肺炎病例的实际数量至少比此前官方公布的数量高出50倍。

Santa Clara was among the first areas in the US to tell residents to stay at home to contain the spread of the virus, ordering a shutdown from March 17.

圣克拉拉县是美国首批要求居民居家隔离控制病毒传播的地区之一，并下令从3月17日起实行封锁。

The United States has recorded more than 800,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19 since the start of the pandemic, according to a tally from Johns Hopkins University, with over 45,000 deaths—the most reported of any country.

据约翰斯·霍普金斯大学的统计，自新冠肺炎疫情开始以来，美国确诊病例已达80多万例，死亡病例超过4.5万例，是报告死亡病例最多的国家。