Hundreds of elderly people in Colorado could have caught coronavirus after a woman who was the state’s first victim of the disease played with them in a bridge tournament, health officials have warned.
An alert has been issued for anyone who played at the Colorado Bridge Center in El Paso County between February 27 and March 3 – but especially in a tournament on February 29 and March 1 – to contact officials over fears they might be infected.
At least one person who attended the center has already tested positive for the virus, while two more have been hospitalized with symptoms.
Almost 300 bridge players at the Colorado Springs Bridge Center were explosed to coronavirus after a woman in her 80s who was infected played there
Health officials are now racing to track down everyone who came into contact with the woman – including several from care facilities – with at least one other infection confirmed
The female bridge player became Colorado’s first fatality from the disease when she died Friday. The state currently has 160 confirmed infections
John Dukellis, a director of the center who is self-isolating over fears he may have the illness, said at least 284 people – 98 per cent of whom are over the age of 60 – attended the tournmanet and are now at risk.
‘This group is going to be hard hit,’ Dukellis told The Denver Post. ‘This is just the beginning.’
It is thought the woman had some symptoms at the time she attended the tournament, but not ones that she was concerned about.
Colorado had 160 confirmed cases of coronavirus by midnight Monday, with one confirmed death – the bridge player, who was aged in her 80s.
While most of the players were from Colorado Springs, Dukellis said the tournament attracted players from all over the state – including Denver.
At least some of the at-risk players came to the tournament from care homes which are now also at risk of outbreaks.
El Paso County Public Health said it is in touch with affected homes, but would not say how many homes are at risk or where they are located.
There are more than 4,600 coronavirus cases across the US – though experts warn this is almost certainly an under-estimate – while 86 people have died
A passenger wearing a ventilator mask has his ticket checked while passing through Denver International Airport in Colorado
A sign stands outside a church in Highlands Ranch, Colorado, to advise parishoners that services were cancelled because of the coronavirus pandemic Sunda
It comes after an outbreak in the Life Care Center of Kirkland, in Washington state, killed at least 27 people – accounting for the majority of the state’s 48 deaths from the virus.
Elderly people and those with unerlying health conditions are most at risk from dying of the disease, which causes respiratory issues
Multiple states began shutting down their bars, restaurants, movie theaters and gyms on Monday as cities like New York and San Francisco turned into ghost towns after officials took strident steps to slow the spread of coronavirus.
New York governor Andrew Cuomo said he had been waiting for orders from the White House, but decided to take matters into his own hands Monday after a lack of action from Washington.
While ordering many businesses into a virtual shut-down, he attacked Trump’s slow-footed response – saying that federal action is needed to tackle a country-wide crisis.
‘This government has to get more engaged. There’s been no country that hasn’t handled this on a federalized level,’ Cuomo said.
Colorado has opened drive-thru testing sites where people can be swabbed for coronavirus amid problems nationwide with getting people tested
‘This patchwork quilt of policies doesn’t work. It makes no sense for me to do something in New York and New Jersey to do something else.’
There are now 4,661 confirmed cases across the US with one in virtually every state, while 86 people have died from the virus.
However, there are fears that the true number of cases is much higher after delays in testing potential patients across the nation.
The World Health Organisation has urged affected countries to ‘test, test, test’ saying it is impossible to fight the virus blindfolded.
Other cities have implemented their own shutdowns but the federal government has yet to take a position on it.
Trump told Americans to ‘settle down’ on Sunday and warned them to stop stockpiling supplies, saying food stores would remain open no matter what happened.
However he is being widely criticized for his approach to the pandemic, which many say has been too slow from the beginning.