Study indicates coronavirus already spreading in the US as early as February

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

• Prior to the first recorded coronavirus case in N.Y. on March 1, research suggests that thousands have already been infected.
• The study concluded that the U.S, as well as other countries, were caught off-guard with how fast the virus spreads in communities.
• The report also discovered that the most effective way to curb the coronavirus is social distancing and business shutdowns.  

A new study found out that thousands of individuals residing in New York City, as well as other places in the country, already contracted coronavirus around February, just before the first infection was confirmed by March 1 at the Big Apple.

Researchers from Northeastern University said that the U.S would have contained the virus early on, and its effects might have been minimal if only travel restrictions from China was implemented by January.

However, that was not the case since coronavirus had already plagued the nation and most countries around the world, and New York City was the nation’s epicenter.

The study also showed that even strict travel measures to and from Mainland China since January 23 was in effect, many people who were exposed to COVID-19  have been roaming globally and were not detected with the infection.

The research also concluded that the U.S. and other countries were not ready when the pandemic started, primarily deficient with testing kits, and was unable to track individuals who were infected and isolate them from the community.

Thousands of infected people, asymptomatic or not, are unknowingly spreading coronavirus to others.  And by the time testing was first conducted, it was too late.

The New York Times was the first outlet to be given a copy of the analysis from Northeastern.

These recent findings also mirror earlier studies conducted by the New York University (NYU) and Mount Sinai Schools of Medicine that also established that COVID-19 variants typically found by health authorities in New York were most likely originated from Europe.

This can be attributed to the closer relationship between the region and New York, making it highly improbable that the coronavirus in the Big Apple come directly from China.

Northeastern University’s models show that by the middle of February, the communal spread of the coronavirus was already in progress in the U.S. as well as in most European nations, weeks before governments pulled the alarm. 

The study also warned that in the future, travel restrictions to coronavirus-infected areas would be most likely only to have moderate effects as far as controlling the spread of the virus is concerned. More robust measures such as social distancing and non-essential business shutdowns, on the other hand, have more advantage in curbing the spread of infection.

Source: New York Post