NYC Might Have Had Almost 11,000 COVID-19 Infections Before 'First' Case: Report

[Dennis Donovan]

https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/nyc-might-have-had-almost-11000-covid-19-infections-before-first-case-report/2386680/

The data from Northeastern University reportedly indicate the virus could have been in the city by late January

Published 3 hours ago • Updated 3 hours ago

New York City announced its first confirmed COVID-19 case on March 1, but there could have been nearly 11,000 infections in the city already by that time, the New York Times reported Thursday.

Citing new model data given to the paper by Northeastern University in Boston, the Times also reported there could have been more than 28,000 infections in five major U.S. cities by March 1, at a time when those cities were only reporting a total of 23 cases.

The Northeastern data also suggests that the first infections could have hit New York City as early as late January. The CDC said January 17 it would start screening travelers entering JFK from China for the new virus.

The report adds to a growing body of evidence that the novel coronavirus was present and spreading in the United States far earlier than previously known. Officials in northern California confirmed this week that someone died of COVID-19 on Feb. 6, more than three weeks before what had been the first public report of a U.S. death.

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[dewsgirl]

1. K and R

[Historic NY]

2. Three major airports....

thousand of flights in from Europe and all points on the compass. Testing only those coming from China, well that was just plain stupid.

[Proud Liberal Dem]

3. My only question about reports like this

is, if it was present and spreading around the US much earlier, was it just less lethal at first and then later started mutating and killing people?

[HarlanPepper]

4. Not necessarily

What I’ve been reading is some flu deaths from the period before the first cases are now being attributed to ‘rona.

[Proud Liberal Dem]

5. Ah. That was a second thought

[cbdo2007]

7. I know someone in mid-Feb that was in the hospital on a ventilator because of a strange...

and extreme case of pneumonia. Started as flu like symptoms but tested negative for flu.

This is in the Kansas City area where the first official tested COVID case wasn't until mid-late March.

Bottom line, they weren't testing. Still for the first 2 weeks here in the KC area they only tested people who showed symptoms and were highest risk, so all the non-high risk people weren't even tested.

Would be interesting to see if ER visits were up in Feb for "flu like symptoms" or pneumonia.

[Proud Liberal Dem]

8. Me too

I don't remember it being reported that we were having a bad "flu season" or something but then again I think that because everybody was starting to hear what was going on in China and then *boom* it was here wreaking havoc in the states, maybe nobody really thought too much about it.

[Initech]

6. We recently found out that the first death in California was Feb. 6th.

And not March 10th as previously reported. Which means that this virus was here and spreading a whole month before we knew what the hell was going on. There's definitely something they're not telling us about this. That seems like a fact worth knowing.