SPOKANE, Wash. — Two of four coronavirus patients at Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center in Spokane have been treated and discharged, according to the Washington State Department of Health.
WSDOH announced the patients' release on Friday night and said the patients are resting at home.
Four coronavirus patients were brought to Sacred Heart on Feb. 19 from Travis Air Force Base in Northern California. The patients were passengers on the Diamond Princess cruise ship. Two patients remain in the Sacred Heart Special Pathogens Unit.
Sacred Heart was chosen because it is home to one of 10 hospitals in the country with the capability to deal with pathogens, such as coronavirus (now known as COVID-19) and Ebola. Sacred Heart's unit was build with funding provided by the U.S. government during the 2014-2015 Ebola outbreak.
The other hospitals are located in Boston; New York City; Baltimore; Atlanta; Minneapolis; Galveston, Texas; Omaha, Nebraska; Denver; and Los Angeles.
The first U.S. death from coronavirus was announced on Saturday. The victim was a King County man in his 50s, according to KING 5. He died at EvergreenHealth in Kirkland and was admitted with serious respiratory issues. The victim also had underlying health conditions.
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