CDC admits that the Coronavirus was spreading in the United States as early as mid-January.

Medics load someone sick with the virus into an ambulance in Kirkland, Washington. NBC News.

The Centers for Disease Control have admitted that the Coronavirus was spreading in the United States as early as mid-January. NBC News. The CDC reported the findings after having investigated early cases of respiratory illness and used DNA tests to confirm the cases. The first wave came from China and spread in mid-January and early February before being detected. A second wave came from Europe that hit California and the Northeastern states, such as New York. Any spread earlier than mid-January has not been confirmed. 

My Comment:

This report came yesterday but I wanted to write about anything at all that wasn't related to the current riots. Though a multi-paragraph rant might have been cathartic for me, I did start this blog to cover stories that other people aren't and this is one that has been overshadowed by current events. 

And I think it's an important admission. If the virus was already here and spreading then there wasn't much we could have done to prevent the virus from taking hold. If there was already community transmission in January, it was already too late to do the contact tracing and personal quarantine strategy that worked in South Korea, Taiwan, New Zealand and Australia. The various travel bans may have helped things out but even those were too late to stop the virus, they only bought us some time. 

I do wonder if the virus was here even earlier than that though. Just because the CDC didn't find any evidence that it was, doesn't mean that it wasn't. I have heard anecdotal reports that a lot of people were coming down with mysterious severe flus in as early as November but it's nothing that has been proven. 

If these reports are correct, and I have no doubt that the CDC got it right here, then China screwed over the world. It's not a question anymore, if they had immediately warned the world that they had a new respiratory virus we could have stopped the virus in its tracks. Instead, America has 100,000 dead and many more people got sick. We suffered huge economic damage and the lockdowns may even have contributed to the civil unrest we are suffering right now. In short, China has a lot to answer for. 

As for the virus itself, it's important to note that it's still around. Though the warmer weather seems to have slowed the virus in America, it's still ramping up in Brazil and Russia and isn't out of Eastern Europe yet either. Lifting the lockdowns doesn't seem to have had too bad of an effect here but I do worry that we might see a 2nd wave. I am glad that President Trump banned travel to Brazil as they have the potential to give it back to us once fall hits here. 

However, if a 2nd wave hits, I don't think it will be as bad as the first. For one thing there are so many people here that have had it that there won't be much of a fertile ground to spread into. Indeed, this news release shows that more people may be immune than we thought if those early cases were more widespread. We also have treatments now and we have a better idea of what works and what doesn't (ie don't send sick people to nursing homes). 

Regardless, the Coronavirus outbreak is still a huge story and it isn't one that needs to be relegated to the news media memory hole just yet. I will continue to write about it as warranted and let the rest of the world talk about the riots endlessly.