https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/first-death-in-u-s-from-new-coronavirus-announced-in-washington-state/

The first death in the United States of Covid-19 was announced Saturday by Washington state health officials. The development, first reported by the Associated Press, comes soon after four people on the West Coast were reported to have the virus who had no known travel history and no known contact with anyone who’d previously been diagnosed.

These cases took place in Northern California; in Snohomish County, north of Seattle; and outside of Portland, Oregon, and sparked concerns that the virus could be spreading furtively through communities in the Pacific Northwest, passing from person to person undetected because it doesn’t necessarily make individuals sick.