Antibody test results of 2 Snohomish County residents throw into question timeline of coronavirus

[jberryhill]

32. What on earth are you talking about?

It was within the average range in January - that grey band. There was nothing unusual going on.

And, no, it doesn't stick around for a few months and THEN somehow launch into exponential growth.

This is a common right-wing talking point to suggest that immunity may be much higher than it probably is.

https://slate.com/technology/2020/04/coronavirus-circulating-california-2019-bunk.html

No, You Did Not Get COVID-19 in the Fall of 2019

The piece has spread widely. An accompanying web story posted to the TV station’s website has been shared more than 58,300 times, and has also been picked up by SFGate. The theory is appealing to some, particularly those who had respiratory illnesses in late 2019 that they now believe could’ve been COVID-19. In their minds, that might mean they have some immunity to the virus—and if a large portion of Americans have some immunity, we can begin our move out of lockdown. But that theory has no scientific basis, and it spreads dangerous misinformation.


https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/factcheck/2020/03/26/coronavirus-fact-check-could-your-december-cough-have-been-covid-19/2899027001/

Dr. Josh Petrie, assistant research professor at the University of Michigan School of Public Health, said it's important to remember that multiple existing viruses can cause severe upper respiratory symptoms and circulated late last year. Among them was Influenza B, which grew in intensity around November and December, as well as RSV and Influenza A.

He said it's possible there were "sporadic" travel-related cases earlier than the discovery of the first case but agreed it was likely not widespread as far back as November or December.


"There's a lot of surveillance that goes on for influenza every year, and so if we were seeing a lot of coronavirus activity at that time – even if you couldn't test for it – you would see signals in that influenza surveillance," he said.


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But, yeah, those scientists are nothing compared to people sharing anecdotes on social media.