Los Angeles County declares emergency on the heels of 6 new coronavirus cases

Los Angeles County officials have declared an emergency after six new coronavirus cases popped up in the area over the last 48 hours.

What are the details?

Health officials discovered the new cases of COVIID-19 this week, bringing the state's total to 35, which, according to CNBC, is more than any other state in the U.S. at the time of this writing.

Washington state has at least 27 confirmed cases of coronavirus. At least nine people have died as a result of the virus at the time of this writing.

Chairwoman of the L.A. County Board of Supervisors Kathryn Barger said in a public statement Wednesday, "I want to reiterate that this is not a response rooted in panic."

The Los Angeles Times reported that three of the new cases were travelers who recently visited northern Italy, two of the new cases were family members who had close contact to someone outside of the U.S., and one of the new cases reportedly had a job "that put them in contact with travelers."

Dr. Barbara Ferrer, director of the county's public health department, said that all of the new cases are due to an "assumed known exposure."

"We will ensure that people who test positive for the novel coronavirus and their close contacts are quickly identified and closely monitored and supported while they are in isolation and/or quarantined," Ferrer added.

She also pointed out that the time has come for citizens to have a plan in place should schools begin closing down.

What else?

County Supervisor Hilda Solis said that misinformation about the virus is unacceptable.

"There's been too much misinformation spreading around," Solis said. "As we expected, it's cultivating fears and leading to racial profiling."

The Times reported that health officials in Pasadena and Long Beach are also planning to declare emergencies.

The World Health Organization announced on Tuesday that the global mortality rate from coronavirus was 3.4%.