Los Angeles Report Suggests Coronavirus Already There Since December

Los Angeles Times speculated that the novel Coronavirus appeared for the first time in the United States, earlier than what is thought.

The American newspaper reported that scientists believe that the high death toll in the San Francisco Bay area in February and March was due to the outbreak of the virus in California which  appeared for the first time with the beginning of last December as they believe. 

The report added: "The lag time has had dire consequences, allowing the virus to spread unchecked before social distancing rules went into effect".

“The virus was freewheeling in our community and probably has been here for quite some time,” Dr. Jeff Smith, a physician who is the chief executive of Santa Clara County government, told county leaders in a recent briefing.

How long? A study out of Stanford suggests a dramatic viral surge in February

"This wasn’t recognized because we were having a severe flu season,” Smith said in an interview. “Symptoms are very much like the flu. If you got a mild case of COVID, you didn’t really notice. You didn’t even go to the doctor. The doctor maybe didn’t even do it because they presumed it was the flu."

"Just as New York has strong ties to travelers from Europe, who are believed to have brought the coronavirus there from Italy, the Bay Area is a natural hub for those traveling to and from China. Santa Clara County had its first two cases of COVID-19 almost a week before federal approval of emergency testing for the disease Feb. 4. Both were in travelers returning from Wuhan, China, where the virus was rampant," the report read.

So far, 596 California have died from coronavirus infection, while more than 21,000 people have contracted the disease.

The US yesterday reported 1,514 new deaths in 24 hours, according to Johns Hopkins University.

While, President Donald Trump earlier wanted the world's largest economy to be able to reopen quickly, the administration's chief communicable disease expert, Anthony Fuchi, said that the United States may be ready to gradually reopen the economy next month, as evidence grows that the Covid-19 pandemic has reached its peak.

Most of the country remained frozen and churches celebrated Easter over the Internet to stop the spread of the virus that has killed more than 20,000 people in the states United.