WASHINGTON: California Governor Gavin Newsom on Wednesday declared a state of emergency after the state reported its first death from coronavirus.
"The State of California is deploying every level of government to help identify cases and slow the spread of this coronavirus," Newsom said in a statement cited by The Hill.
"This emergency proclamation will help the state further prepare our communities and our health care system in the event it spreads more broadly," he added.
An elderly man, a resident of Placer County with underlying health conditions, passed away in isolation at a hospital in Roseville on Wednesday morning (local time) after likely being exposed to the virus on a cruise from San Francisco to Mexico in February.
The emergency proclamation includes anti-price gouging provisions as well as provisions allowing for health care workers to travel from out of state to provide assistance in health care facilities.
It comes a day after Newsom announced the release of millions of N95 masks amid shortages of protective gears as a result of the pandemic disease outbreak that has infected more than 3200 people globally.
California has confirmed 53 cases of the virus as of Wednesday afternoon. A total of 11 people have died in the United States so far.