SPOKANE, Wash. — It has been one year since four patients who tested positive for coronavirus received treatment at Providence Sacred Heart Medical Center in Spokane.
The patients' arrival marked the first people diagnosed with COVID-19 who received treatment in Spokane County. The Associated Press later reported that the four patients were among 11 passengers from a quarantined Diamond Princess cruise ship who were brought to the United States.
Here's a timeline breaking down key events in the patients' arrival and treatment nearly one year after their plane touched down in Spokane on Thursday, Feb. 20, 2020.
Wednesday, Feb. 19, 2020
Health officials in Spokane County reported that five coronavirus patients would be transferred to Sacred Heart Medical Center for care.
Dr. Bob Lutz, who served as Spokane Regional Health Officer before his controversial firing in October 2020, said in a statement at the time that risk to the public from the novel coronavirus was "low."
The Washington State Department of Health told KREM 2 that Sacred Heart's Special Pathogens Unit was "specially equipped to treat patients with infectious diseases."
Thursday, Feb. 20, 2020
One pair of patients arrived in Spokane before noon on Thursday, Feb. 20, while the two others arrived shortly before 4 p.m.
Lutz said the patients were transported to the Spokane International Airport from Travis Air Force Base near Sacramento, California. An ambulance then took the patients to Sacred Heart Medical Center.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, which selected Sacred Heart, originally notified the hospital on Wednesday that it would receive five patients but the number dropped to four later that night, health officials said on Thursday.
Sacred Heart staff said on Thursday that all patients were expected to stay at the hospital for at least two weeks.
Spokane Mayor Nadine Woodward said since the virus first came to the U.S., city leaders figured it was only a matter of time before Spokane’s specialized treatment center would be of use.
"They didn't give us very many details at all, just that they would be arriving within 48 hours. And we knew that Sacred Heart was equipped for patients like that with their isolation unit and infectious disease specialists there, and that they had been training for four years since the Ebola outbreak in 2014," Woodward said.
Friday, Feb. 21
Hospital staff said on Friday, Feb. 21 that all of the patients were in satisfactory condition.
Friday, Feb. 28
Two of four coronavirus patients treated at Sacred Heart Medical Center were discharged, according to the Washington State Department of Health.
Saturday, Feb. 29
The first U.S. death from coronavirus was announced on Saturday, Feb. 29.
The victim was a King County man in his 50s. He died at EvergreenHealth in Kirkland and was admitted with serious respiratory issues. The victim also had underlying health conditions.
March 21, 2020
The remaining two coronavirus patients receiving treatment at Sacred Heart's Special Pathogens Unit were released, health officials announced on March 21, 2020.
With their departure from the hospital, all four of the initial cases that came to Spokane have now recovered.