VACAVILLE, Calif. (AP) — California officials are trying to locate everyone who was in contact with a woman thought to be the first known coronavirus case in the U.S. of unknown origin.
The woman is from Solano County, which lies between the San Francisco Bay area and Sacramento. Dozens of Americans who tested positive for the virus and were brought home from China or cruise ships have been treated at an air base in the county.
But state officials say there is no evidence the woman had any connection to the base.
Gov. Gavin Newsom says the state has about 200 testing kits for the virus and that federal officials are sending more to California.
State officials across the U.S. are ramping up efforts to prepare for a possible outbreak of the new coronavirus. Governors and legislators in several states have proposed adding millions of dollars to their state budgets to combat the disease.
Congress is considering billions of dollars in federal funding.
Some states received federal approval Thursday to do their own testing of potential coronavirus cases, which could get results quicker than waiting on federal labs.
Health officials have also been checking to see whether hospitals and emergency responders are well-stocked on equipment such as face masks.
Vice President Mike Pence is trying to help calm a jittery public and shaken financial markets in his new role as chief of the government's response to the coronavirus.
Pence convened his first meeting of an existing White House coronavirus task force.
The meeting came a day after President Donald Trump tapped Pence to be the government's point-person for the epidemic. The meeting also came amid confusion over who is leading the effort to coordinate the response across federal agencies.
Pence says he's leading the task force, but Azar will still be its chairman.
China reported 327 new cases and 44 deaths from the new COVID-19 illness, continuing a sharp downward trend in the country where the epidemic began.
The National Health Commission's updated figures brings mainland China's total number of cases to 78,824 and deaths to 2,788. More than 3,600 infections with the new type of coronavirus have been reported in other places as the epidemic spreads to dozens of countries.
In recent days, the number of new cases outside China have eclipsed the number confirmed inside the country.
Of the newly reported figures, 313 cases and 28 new deaths were in Wuhan, the city worst hit by the epidemic.