COVID-19 was present in US earlier than identified: American scientists

The coronavirus infected people in the United States weeks before it was officially identified in China, according to US scientists who say the pandemic could have originated elsewhere in the globe and was silently spreading earlier than thought.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) found that the virus was present in the US about a month earlier than public health authorities found the first case of COVID-19.

The CDC study is based on a new analysis of blood samples that the US Red Cross collected between December 2019, and January 2020

“The findings of this report suggest that SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) infections may have been present in the US in December 2019, earlier than previously recognized,” the researchers wrote.

“CDC is continuing to work with federal and non-governmental partners to conduct ongoing surveillance using blood donations and clinical laboratory samples for SARS-CoV-2 infection in multiple sites across the US,” they said.

Evidence of the viral infection was found in 106 of 7,389 blood donations to the Red Cross in nine states.

These donations were collected between December 13, 2019, and January 17, 2020, with the Red Cross later submitting them to the CDC to test for antibodies.

Antibodies were detected in 39 samples on the West Coast in Washington, Oregon and California, all of them collected between the same period.

Researchers confirmed that the antibodies were specific to COVID-19 and that they had ruled out other coronaviruses.

The government officially confirmed the first case of COVID-19 in the US on January 19 — a man who had recently returned from China.

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China was the first ever country that officially reported the virus in late December, last year.

It was initially believed that the virus was originated in the city of Wuhan.

The CDC study is now expected to re-ignite debate over the origins of the pandemic.

US President Donald Trump has repeatedly blamed China for the pandemic, describing the coronavirus as the “Chinese virus.”

China which has already cast doubt on the origins of the new coronavirus, has now launched its investigation into the case.

“Although China was the first to report cases," said Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Zhao Lijian last week, "it doesn't necessarily mean that the virus originated in China."

One year on, the virus has infected over 64 million people and killed more than 1,492,000 others, according to Johns Hopkins University data.

The US stands on the top of the list of the most affected countries, with 13,921,374 confirmed cases of infection and 273,181 deaths.

White House warns COVID-19 cases at dire levels, says patient care could be compromised

The White House coronavirus task force is issuing a dire warning to states.

The number of coronavirus related deaths in the US surpassed 2,700 in one day as of Wednesday evening, the highest since April, according to the data.

The number of new COVID-19 cases over the past 24 hours was 195,121.

The head of the CDC warned on Wednesday the COVID-19 pandemic will pose America's grimmest health crisis yet over the next few months, before vaccines become widely available.

Robert Redfield said this winter may be the “most difficult time” in the US public health history.

“The reality is that December, January and February are going to be rough times,” said Redfield.

The dire warning came as US coronavirus hospitalizations jumped to their highest since the onset of the global pandemic.

The hospitalizations hit a record for a fourth consecutive day on Tuesday, approaching 100,000, according to a Reuters tally.

This is while, healthcare professionals are short-staffed, with many of their colleagues being infected with the virus.

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