The country has been reeling from pressure reimposed by the Trump administration. Now it is scrambling to cope with the virus that has killed dozens of Iranians, including a senior official.
Two people who died on Feb. 26 were found to have had the coronavirus. They were residents of Life Care Center in Kirkland, Wash., which is considered to be the site of an outbreak.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a woman from quarantine at Lackland Air Force Base over the weekend; she was later found to be infected with the virus that causes COVID-19.
"We now know that the virus is actively spreading in some communities here in Washington," a state official said, after four more people in the Seattle area died after contracting COVID-19.
The tests will likely find infections around the country — including cases that had gone undetected. The CDC says it has enough kits to test at least 75,000 people and that more are on order.