Corona may have occurred in US before January

Washington : COVID-19 may have occurred in the US before mid-January as two persons with positive serology or blood-based tests had coronavirus-like illness last December, a Washington-based health official said.

Among 295 probable cases, 35 had positive serological or blood tests and two of those individuals reported having a COVID-like illness in mid- to late December 2019, Chris Spitters, the Snohomish district's health officer, said on Friday.

These two persons told their district's case investigators they got sick with COVID-like illnesses in mid- to late December, several weeks prior to the country's first confirmed case in mid-January, reports Xinhua news agency.

"Given reports like the ones that we've had and others around the country, the introduction of COVID-19 may have occurred prior to mid-January," Spitters said.

"A positive serology test indicates prior coronavirus infection. It does not provide details on when the infection was acquired," he added. Spitters noted that respiratory-tract symptoms experienced in December in each case overlap with other illnesses.

"It is hard to determine if their illness in December truly was COVID-19, or if it was due to another respiratory infection and they later acquired an asymptomatic COVID-19 infection."