A staff member blocks the view as a person is taken by a stretcher to a waiting ambulance from a nursing facility where more than 50 people are sick and being tested for the COVID-19 virus, Saturday, Feb. 29, 2020, in Kirkland, Wash. (AP/Elaine Thompson)
The governor of Washington declared a state of emergency Saturday after a man died there of coronavirus, the first such reported death in the United States.
More than 50 people in a nursing facility are sick and being tested for the virus.
Gov. Jay Inslee directed state agencies to use “all resources necessary” to prepare for and respond to the coronavirus outbreak.
The declaration also allows the use of the Washington National Guard, if necessary.