Coronavirus may have spread undetected for weeks in U.S.

No surprise to anybody with a smidgen of scientific knowledge, or just plain common sense. It shows why we need to be constantly prepared to detect and deal with such problems.

https://www.boston.com/news/health/2020/03/01/coronavirus-may-have-spread-undetected-for-weeks-in-u-s

By
Joel Achenbach, Katie Mettler, Lena H. Sun and Ben Guarino,
The Washington Post
updated on March 2, 2020 | 10:32 AM

The coronavirus has been circulating undetected and has possibly infected scores of people over the past six weeks in Washington state, according to a genetic analysis of virus samples

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The virus may have been spreading in parts of Washington state among people who didn’t realize they were infected by it — they may have thought they had a cold or the flu.

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If the number of confirmed cases climbs dramatically in the next few days, it could reflect expanded detection efforts rather than a sudden increase in the rate at which the virus is spreading.

“Once we start testing more broadly this week, we are almost certain to learn that there has been community transmission for a while in many places,” said Andy Pavia, chief of the Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases at the University of Utah health system. He called the Washington state research on the genetics of the virus “very important.”

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