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For the first time, a U.S. patient has contracted novel coronavirus with no clue as to where it came from.The California patient didn't travel anywhere known to have the virus, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said. And the patient wasn't exposed to anyone known to be infected.That means this could be the first U.S. case of "community spread" of the virus, when the source of the infection is unknown.California Gov. Gavin Newsom said at least 8,400 people have been monitored locally.The patient is being treated in Sacramento County.The patient is at UC Davis Medical Center in Sacramento, according to a statement from the hospital. The statement was posted on behalf of UC Davis Medical Center Interim CEO Brad Simmons and UC Davis Health Vice Chancellor Dr. David Lubarsky.According to the statement, the patient was transferred to the hospital on Feb. 19."When the patient arrived, the patient had already been intubated, was on a ventilator, and given droplet protection orders because of an undiagnosed and suspected viral condition," the statement said. "Since the patient arrived with a suspected viral infection, our care teams have been taking the proper infection prevention (contact droplet) precautions during the patient’s stay."The team at UC Davis Medical Center asked public health officials if the case could be the novel coronavirus and requested testing by the CDC. At this time, neither Sacramento County nor CDPH are doing coronavirus testing. "Since the patient did not fit the existing CDC criteria for COVID-19, a test was not immediately administered. UC Davis Health does not control the testing process," the statement said.The CDC ordered the coronavirus test on Sunday, put on airborne precautions and strict contact precautions "because of our concerns about the patient’s condition." The letter said the CDC confirmed Wednesday the patient's coronavirus test came back positive. The CDC said the case was confirmed through the public health system in Northern California -- picked up by "astute clinicians."California health officials said, “Contact tracing in this case has already begun.”"At this time, the patient’s exposure is unknown," the CDC said. "It’s possible this could be an instance of community spread of COVID-19, which would be the first time this has happened in the United States." “This would be the first known instance of person-to-person transmission in the general public in the United States,” CDPH said in a statement. “Previously known instances of person-to-person transmission in the United States include one instance in Chicago, Illinois, and one in San Benito County, California. Both cases were after close, prolonged interaction with a family member who returned from Wuhan, China and had tested positive for COVID-19, the disease caused by novel coronavirus. As of today, including this case, California has had seven travel-related cases, one close contact case, and now one community transmission.”According to the UC Davis Health statement, this is not the first coronavirus patient at UC Davis Medical Center."Because of the precautions we have had in place since this patient’s arrival, we believe there has been minimal potential for exposure here at UC Davis Medical Center," the statement said. Federal officials have been working closely with state and local partners to respond to this "public threat.""Unprecedented, aggressive efforts have been taken to contain the spread and mitigate the impact of this virus," the CDC said.“California has a strong health care system and public health infrastructure,” CDPH said in a statement. “California has prepared for the potential spread of diseases, such as H1N1, in the past and is prepared and actively responding to the potential community spread of COVID-19." California health officials said the health risk from the coronavirus to the general public remains low.“While COVID-19 has a high transmission rate, it has a low mortality rate," the CDPH said. "From the international data we have, of those who have tested positive for COVID-19, approximately 80 percent do not exhibit symptoms that would require hospitalization. There have been no confirmed deaths related to COVID-19 in the United States to date. California is carefully assessing the situation as it evolves.”According to the CDC, there are now 15 cases of coronavirus that have been confirmed within the U.S.:12 cases were travel-related2 cases were person-to-person spread1 case (the case confirmed Wednesday) was community spreadThe total number of people tested for the coronavirus within the U.S., as of Tuesday, is 445.CNN contributed to this report.