Health officials in California's Santa Clara County have identified two people who died from the new coronavirus in early and mid-February, making them the earliest known victims of the outbreak in the United States.
It was previously thought that the first U.S. death from COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by the virus, was a man in his 50s who died in Washington state on Feb. 29.
"The Medical Examiner-Coroner performed autopsies on two individuals who died at home on February 6, 2020 and February 17, 2020", Santa Clara County Public Health said in a statement.