Northern California city at epicenter of coronavirus mystery

VACAVILLE, Calif. (AP) — Residents of a Northern California community are at the epicenter of what officials are calling a turning point in the spread of the highly contagious coronavirus, as investigators try to retrace the steps of a hospitalized woman they believe to be the first in the U.S. to be infected without traveling internationally or being in close contact with anyone who had it.

As infectious disease experts fanned out in Vacaville, some residents in the city of 100,000 stocked up on supplies amid fears things could get worse despite official reassurances, while others took the news in stride.

The city lies between San Francisco and Sacramento in Solano County, in the agricultural Central Valley and near California’s famous wine region.

It is about 10 miles (16 kilometers) from Travis Air Force Base, which has been used as a virus quarantine location. Public health officials said they can find no connection between the infected woman and passengers on the Diamond Princess cruise ship who were evacuated to the base when the ship was docked in Japan.

The case of the infected woman marks an escalation of the worldwide outbreak in the U.S. because it means the virus could spread beyond the reach of preventative measures like quarantines, though state health officials said that was inevitable and that the risk of widespread transmission remains low.

But McKinsey Paz, her husband and her boss at a Vacaville private security company weren’t taking any chances. They hustled to a warehouse store Thursday to buy bottled water, canned food, staples like rice and beans and cases of toilet paper and paper towels.

“We’re not sure what’s going to happen. Panic seems to do that to you,” Paz said. “In case things get a little crazy, we didn’t want to be the last ones. We’re preparing for the...