COVID-19 may have been present in US weeks before China reported first case: Study

The latest study has revealed that COVID-19 infections may have been present in the United States prior to the first reported case on January 19, 2020. The new study, published in the Oxford Academic on November 30, states that COVID-19 may have been introduced in the US in December 2019. After testing of 7,389 blood samples was conducted from December 13 to January 17, it was established that COVID-19 antibodies were present in the United States, earlier than previously recognised. 

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COVID antibodies existed as early as Dec

According to the study, 7,389 routine blood donations collected by the American Red Cross from December 13 to January 17 from nine states were sent to the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) testing of anti-SARS-CoV-2-reactive antibodies. It was established that COVID-19 antibodies did exist in the US prior to the first reported case in January. 

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China, where the COVID-19 was first identified, notified the World Health Organisation (WHO) about the disease on December 31, 2019. But it is believed that China first identified SARS-CoV-2 in a person hospitalised in Wuhan with symptom onset as early as December 1. In the US, the first case was identified on January 19, two days after the national testing initiative was started. The first US patient, who contracted the disease, had returned from China. 

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The revelation made by the study could spark the debate that coronavirus may have originated somewhere else as it proves the disease was silently spreading across the world prior than officially detected by the governments. This is not the first when it has emerged that COVID-19 may have been spreading outside China before 2020. Earlier, France had reported a case of a man who is thought to have contracted the disease in December, prior to the country officially reporting its first case in January end. 

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(Image Credit: AP)