Coronavirus could have broken out in US before being officially confirmed in China
Health care workers test people for the coronavirus at a drive-thru site at Oakview Mall in Omaha, Neb. on Tuesday, Nov. 24, 2020. (Calla Kessler © 2020 The New York Times Company)
Deadly coronavirus could have been in the US as early as December 2019, according to a new government study.
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As per the research by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the American Red Cross, the coronavirus was present in the country weeks earlier than scientists and health officials had previously thought and had been infecting people in the US even before China reported its first cases on December 31, 2019.
According to the scientists, an analysis of blood donations shows that the virus may have been spreading across the country as early as 13 December.
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Looking at blood samples collected by the American Red Cross between December 13 and January 17, some blood donors from nine states tested positive for COVID-19 antibodies, indicating that they had come into contact with the virus prior to January 20, when officials confirmed the first COVID-19 case in the US.
The novel coronavirus outbreak, which began in Wuhan, China, in December, has expanded to touch every corner of the globe. Millions of people around the world have been sickened and hundreds of thousands of others have died.
Meanwhile, The US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will shorten the recommended length of quarantine after exposure to someone who is positive for COVID-19.
The updated guidelines will let people who have come in contact to someone infected with the coronavirus to end quarantine after 10 days, or seven days provided they receive a negative test result, the report said.
(With inputs from agencies)