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‘When Is It Going to End?’: Where Coronavirus Has Turned Deadly in the U.S.

Four residents of a nursing care facility in suburban Seattle have died, and the surrounding community is taking extraordinary steps to contain the virus.

Equipment was delivered to the Life Care Center in Kirkland, Wash., on Monday. Several of the deaths from coronavirus in the United States have been tied to the facility.Credit...Grant Hindsley for The New York Times

SEATTLE — Movie nights have been canceled. Residents are restricted to their rooms, their meals delivered by workers in protective gear. Ambulances come and go, taking elderly patients who have fallen ill to the hospital two miles away.

Life Care Center, which advertises a “homelike and welcoming atmosphere” in the Seattle suburb of Kirkland, has become the focal point of the coronavirus outbreak in the United States. Four of the six people who have died of the virus in this country were residents of the 190-bed nursing care facility. Several other residents and at least one employee have tested positive. One-quarter of the city’s firefighters are in quarantine as a result of recent visits, and officials said on Monday that some have developed flu-like symptoms.

Relatives of those inside the nursing care facility, urged to keep away, worry about who might be next.

“When is it going to end?” said Debbie Delosangeles of Monroe, Wash. She has not been able to see or speak to her 85-year-old mother, who has dementia, since before some residents grew ill last week.

Her mother has shown no symptoms, Ms. Delosangeles has been told, but that has not eliminated her concern. “Is it going to get way worse before it gets better? Are we going to be plagued with this problem for the next several months?”

On Monday, Washington State reported four fatalities associated with the coronavirus, bringing the death toll in the United States to six — all in Washington — and raising concerns that the cluster of cases in the Pacific Northwest could presage a much wider outbreak.

Across the region, leaders began taking extraordinary steps to contain the virus. Residents were warned to prepare for significant changes to their daily lives.

After declaring a state of emergency, King County officials announced highly unusual plans to purchase a motel that could be converted into an isolation center for people who get sick.

A high-rise building in downtown Seattle was closed for precautionary cleaning.

A school district canceled classes for more than 23,000 students on Tuesday to train employees on how to teach children remotely, should the outbreak worsen.

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Frank Love Elementary School in Bothell, Wash., was closed on Monday after a staff member at the school was directed to self quarantine.Credit...Grant Hindsley for The New York Times

Dr. Jeff Duchin, King County’s health officer, said a sudden uptick in infections in the state — 18 cases have been reported in Washington since Friday — indicates that coronavirus infections will likely surpass the flu in the coming weeks, straining the health care system. Eventually, he said, officials will have to shift their focus from individual cases to the most pressing clusters of people who are ill.

“We are still trying to contain it at the greatest extent possible, but at the same time, we are pivoting to a more community-based approach,” Dr. Duchin said.

Dr. Chris Spitters, the health officer for neighboring Snohomish County, said officials there would consider a range of potential ways to contain the outbreak, including strategies that could expand to discourage or prohibit mass gatherings such as sporting events.

In the United States, 103 cases have been reported of the virus, which has left more than 3,000 people dead worldwide and sickened tens of thousands of others. In at least a dozen of the Washington cases, officials have said they were unaware of any connection to overseas travel that might explain the origin.

Health experts said that the increase in cases suggested that the virus has been spreading within the United States for a while, and would likely continue.

“The question is, is this a kind of local outbreak, or is this the first signature of a much larger outbreak?” said Aubree Gordon, a professor of epidemiology at the University of Michigan’s School of Public Health. “I think it’s going to be very important that local public health officials and the government react quickly and appropriately to try to stop the spread.”

Since the nation’s first coronavirus case was found in Washington six weeks ago, health officials have conducted sporadic testing, limited by narrow guidelines from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for who was at risk, as well as difficulties with testing kits.

On Monday, the state increased its testing and was now handling about 200 requests each day, said Dr. Kathy Lofy, the health officer of Washington State. Much of the focus has been in the Seattle area, but Dr. Lofy said that could change. “Given the movement of people around the state, it is possible the virus is spreading in other counties, too,” she said.

Dow Constantine, the executive of King County, where officials were trying to buy a motel as a possible isolation facility, said it could be open as early as the end of the week. He said he also hoped to repurpose modular housing units, initially destined for the region’s homeless crisis, to be used to help isolate people and free up space at medical centers.

“We need that hospital capacity for treatment,” Mr. Constantine said.

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LeeAnn Stivers loaded up her car at a Costco in Seattle in preparation for the possible spread of the coronavirus.Credit...Grant Hindsley for The New York Times

In Kirkland, relatives who had visited the Life Care Center said that the facility had been coping with illness among residents and staff members in recent days, and that on Friday it told all residents to remain in their rooms.

Still more troubling news followed on Saturday: A resident and an employee had tested positive for coronavirus.

By Monday, workers from the center who were not feeling ill were asked to continue coming to work for shifts, according to Nancy Butner, Life Care’s northwest divisional vice president. Workers who were feeling sick, she said, were being asked to isolate themselves at home.

“We’re doing our best to make sure the patients are cared for and all of their needs are met,” Ms. Butner said. “There are just a lot of moving parts. We’re doing our best.”

North of Kirkland, leaders of the Northshore School District canceled classes for Tuesday to make preparations for the possibility of remote teaching. For families without laptops or internet access, the district was working to provide computers and internet hot spots. Elsewhere, several schools have also closed for deep cleaning.

“We now know the virus is active in our community,” Michelle Reid, the superintendent of the Northshore district, wrote a letter to families sent late Sunday.

On message boards, families also began discussing how they would manage long-term school closures or potential self or mandated quarantines.

Trisa Kern, a mother of two preschoolers, said she and her husband planned to stay home and take turns working if they are quarantined or if school closes — an eventuality she considers inevitable.

And at the University of Washington, more than 11,000 people have signed a petition calling for the school to close its Seattle campus, which has roughly 46,000 students. “In classrooms, dining halls and during other crowded areas, the virus will inevitably infect people thus increasing the infection rate exponentially,” the petition reads.

Victor Balta, a university spokesman, said the administration was aware of the petition and was evaluating how to adapt on campus.

“We absolutely understand the anxiety that is coming as a result of these reports in the region,” he said, “but we have been following and are continuing to follow the guidance issued by public health authorities.”

Mike Baker and Karen Weise reported from Seattle. Nicholas Bogel-Burroughs contributed from New York, and Jack Healy from Denver.

Karen Weise is a technology correspondent based in Seattle, covering Amazon, Microsoft, and the region's tech scene. Before joining The Times in 2018, she worked for Bloomberg Businessweek and Bloomberg News, as well as ProPublica. More about Karen Weise

A version of this article appears in print on  , Section A, Page 1 of the New York edition with the headline: In Northwest, Growing Fears Of Who’s Next. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe

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