NIH researchers find more evidence Covid was circulating in the US in December 2019

[LiberalArkie]

(CNN)Researchers have found more evidence that coronavirus was circulating at low levels across the United States as early as December 2019 -- weeks before the first officially reported cases.

Frozen blood samples indicate people in five states -- Illinois, Wisconsin, Pennsylvania, Mississippi and Massachusetts -- were infected with coronavirus days or weeks before any cases were officially reported in those states.

Volunteers taking part in the National Institutes of Health's All of Us study, an ongoing effort to gather health information on 1 million people, donated blood as part of the study. Tests of 24,000 samples taken in early 2020 showed antibodies to coronavirus in the blood of at least nine people, the All of Us researchers reported in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases.

"These included individuals with specimens collected January 7 from Illinois, January 8 from Massachusetts, February 3 from Wisconsin, February 15 from Pennsylvania, and March 6 in Mississippi," they wrote.

Snip

https://www.cnn.com/2021/06/15/health/coronavirus-all-of-us-blood-survey/index.html

[lagomorph777]

1. There were several mysterious deaths in Northern VA (Dulles Airport area) in Fall 2019.

In retrospect, they look exactly like COVID-19 deaths.

[Lochloosa]

2. I'm convinced I had it thanksgiving 2019.

Felt like the flu but different. Tested negative for the flu.

Took 3 weeks to get over it.

[malaise]

3. Off to the greatest page

for visibility

[LiberalArkie]

4. When this started, I thought it was odd that the spread was from China, Italy, US, England

and the other major countries that had a lot of participants in the Military Olympics. Don't know why, it was just one of the little things that an Aspie picked up.

[malaise]

5. Really interesting

[Takket]

6. BuT fAuCi AnD tHe WuHaN lAb ReLeAsEd It In DeCeMbEr

I saw it on Fox News!

[LiberalArkie]

9. The Wuhan institute of Virology techs were the first reported sick. I never thought anyone did it

intentionally or created it. They examined viruses all the time for animal to human transmission. I just think someone caught it and did not realize it.

[samnsara]

7. My sister in law was very ill in Dec 2019...dr later did anti body test on her and not covid ;/

[Pobeka]

8. Seems like a couple of caveats are likely

1. From the article, the tests may not have detected COVID19

"Nonetheless, they said, it's possible the tests detected pre-existing immunity to coronaviruses that happened to randomly create antibodies to the 2019 coronavirus. Four other coronaviruses regularly infect people, causing common cold symptoms."

2. If this really was COVID19 in December, it was likely a strain with a much lower infection rate than the one that hit Wuhan, otherwise with no social distancing, masks etc, the US would have been in the thousands of cases by mid January, particularly after the holiday season.