Studies Trace NY’s COVID Outbreak To Europe, Not Asia

The New York Times reports:

New research indicates that the coronavirus began to circulate in the New York area by mid-February, weeks before the first confirmed case, and that travelers brought in the virus mainly from Europe, not Asia. “The majority is clearly European,” said Harm van Bakel, a geneticist at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, who co-wrote a study awaiting peer review.

A separate team at N.Y.U. Grossman School of Medicine came to strikingly similar conclusions, despite studying a different group of cases. Both teams analyzed genomes from coronaviruses taken from New Yorkers starting in mid-March. The research revealed a previously hidden spread of the virus that might have been detected if aggressive testing programs had been put in place.

Read the full article. No paywall.

Scientist learn that the 1st #CoronavirusNYC patient, who tested positive Mar 1, got it from a European strain, NOT China & a mutated version. #Trump victory lap on China restrictions is unjustified. The true lesson of this pandemic is TEST. Early. Broadly https://t.co/ZgN6kq4rq5

— Maya Wiley (@mayawiley) April 9, 2020