Tuesday, May 5, 2020

The Search Is On for America’s Earliest Coronavirus Deaths


Medical investigators are looking for evidence that COVID-19 killed people as far back as November. In the picture, medical workers are moving a body to a refrigerated truck in the Bronx. This was New York's first case of coronavirus on Mar. 1. 

The first known death due to the coronavirus was in Chicago, and it occurred in mid-March. The county's medical examiner office is now searching for evidence that people may have died because of the virus as far back as November. Investigators in New York, Seattle, and Massachusetts are among those looking at past cases. 

Public health officials and scientists say identifying the earliest deaths and infections in the U.S. is critical to understanding how the virus was transmitted and how deadly it is. Currently, the earliest known death due to COVID-19 occurred Feb. 6 in Santa Clara County, Calif. The case involved a woman who died of a heart attack at home, and it was later confirmed that the underlying cause was the coronavirus. the first known infection was reported north of Seattle in late Jan. in a man who had traveled to China. 

Link: https://www.wsj.com/articles/the-search-is-on-for-americas-earliest-coronavirus-deaths-11588597831

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