The new coronavirus started spreading in the United States even earlier than expected, according to new research from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Community transmission of COVID-19 may have occurred as early as January, several weeks before the initial official estimate.
The study proves the authorities’ failure to find coronavirus patients and stop the spread of the disease at a time when the dangers surrounding COVID-19 were already known.
The new coronavirus started spreading to the United States in late January. We know that since the first diagnosed case dates back to January 20. A recent report has suggested that the first COVID-19 patient in the United States may have been infected at some point in mid-December, several weeks before the first confirmed case. Similar research in Europe indicates that the virus could have reached the continent as early as mid-November, at a time when the world had no idea that a new virus was circulating. The autopsy results showed that a patient died of COVID-19 in California as early as February 6, three weeks earlier than the first reported death of COVID-19 in America.
The CDC now says it found limited evidence of the early spread of COVID-19 in the United States in late January and early February. The agency said that until the end of February, “the incidence of COVID-19 was too low to be detected by syndromic emergency department surveillance for COVID-19 disease.”
The CDC believes that a single case imported from China that has not been identified could be responsible for the COVID-19 epidemic that started on the west coast. Others then brought the disease from Europe.
The CDC retrospectively tested nearly 11,000 samples from patients suspected of having been infected with the flu. Of these, the first positive COVID-19 result was dated February 25. It was two days before California authorities reported a community transmission in the state because a woman who had not traveled outside the country contracted the virus.
Once an infectious disease reaches the stage of “community transmission”, authorities seeking to track and isolate contacts are unable to link new patients to a source. This is an indication that the broadcast may be out of control. Large-scale screening campaigns and contact tracing can be used to contain the disease, and we have seen examples of such practices working well in other countries, including South Korea, New Zealand, etc. .
The CDC says it was never blind to the arrival of COVID-19, although the agency’s overall response and the leaks of the first tests have been widely criticized, as they have led to an uncontrolled transmission of virus.
“We have never been blind to the surveillance of Coronavirus 19,” CDC director Robert Redfield told reporters on Friday when the new CDC study was released. “The reality is that the surveillance systems that the CDC has developed over the years for viral respiratory diseases, especially influenza-like illnesses, really allowed us to see this disease when it started to emerge.”
Stat points out that the director’s comments do not reflect the fact that the flu samples should have been tested in real time and provided real information that the authorities could have used to try to contain or at least slow the spread. Kristian Andersen, a Scripps Research expert in viral genomes, said the new study highlights that the United States has missed the first chains of transmission and has lost the opportunity to take the first appropriate steps.
“This is an absurd statement,” Andersen told Stat, referring to Redfield’s remark. “It is a sad fact that the United States missed the boat by preparing for adequate tests early enough to be able to stop the virus in its tracks – this is probably one of the many reasons why we have by far the most cases of any country in the world. ”
A separate University of Arizona study published this week in preprinted form in bioRXiv indicates that sustained transmission of COVID-19 started in mid-February, one month after the first case was registered in the state from Washington. The first cases were contained, the study found, but containment was not possible with the more recent ones.
“Our observation that the virus associated with the first known transmission network in the United States only entered the country in mid-February is sobering because it shows that the window of opportunity to block the sustainable transmission of virus has spread to this point, “the authors said.
The researchers analyzed the genetic sequences of infected people and said the patient who started the first chain of transmission came from Asia or Canada. Transmission could have started as early as February 7 or February 19. CDC researchers challenge Arizona study, which in turn has challenged various research studies that the COVID-19 epidemic began in Washington with the first patient to return to China on January 15.
In any event, this new CDC study clearly shows that community transmission of COVID-19 started much earlier than previously thought, and the disease was spreading undetected at a time when the world was already warned of the dangers of the new coronavirus.
The CDC warns that estimates of transmission in the United States may change further as suspected flu deaths are still under investigation.
A doctor wearing a face mask outside. Image source: Peter Foley / EPA-EFE / Shutterstock
Chris Smith started writing about gadgets as a hobby, and before he knew it, he shared his perspective on technology with readers around the world. Whenever he doesn’t write on gadgets, he fails miserably to stay away from them, although he tries desperately. But it’s not necessarily a bad thing.
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