Was the novel coronavirus on the loose in Los Angeles way back in December, before the World Health Organization was even aware of an unusual cluster of pneumonia cases in Wuhan, China?
Los Angeles -
Some of those patients were treated in outpatient centers. Others came to emergency rooms, and some were ultimately admitted to the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center or other hospitals operated by UCLA. "A significantly higher number of patients with respiratory complaints and diseases starting in late December 2019 and continuing through February 2020 suggests community spread of SARS-CoV-2 prior to established clinical awareness and testing capabilities," wrote the team led by Dr. Joann Elmore, who is both an internist and professor of health policy and management at UCLA.
In emergency rooms, the researchers tallied 1 708 cough patients this past December, January and February. That was about 514 more than the average for the previous five winters, and about 229 more than in 2018-19, the busiest of the five prior winters, the researchers estimated. Breaking things down week by week, the study authors found that the number of cough patients coming to clinics this past winter was higher by a statistically significant margin in 10 out of the 13 weeks analyzed. That was also true for cough patients in ERs in six of the 13 weeks. And inside hospitals, the number of patients with acute respiratory distress was significantly higher in seven out of the 13 weeks.
But the idea that the coronavirus was circulating in California even before December 31, when the Wuhan Municipal Health Commission first announced its cluster of unexplained pneumonia cases, might not be far-fetched.
South Africa Latest News, South Africa Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
COVID-19 LIVE UPDATES | How these Covid-19 modellers got the death toll rightCovid-19 live updates.
Read more »
Stubbornly high US job losses signal struggle with Covid-19 casesThe total number of Americans claiming ongoing unemployment assistance rose 93,000 to 13.4-million in the week ended August 29
Read more »
Trump denies lying to US about COVID-19 after bombshell bookThe Republican, who is down in the polls against Democrat Joe Biden and faces overwhelming disapproval from Americans on his handling of the coronavirus crisis, insisted that he'd softened the dangers in public so as to preserve calm.
Read more »
Stubbornly high US job losses signal struggle with Covid-19 casesThe total number of Americans claiming ongoing unemployment assistance rose 93,000 to 13.4-million in the week ended August 29
Read more »
Trump said he played down severity of Covid-19 to avoid panicTrump told journalist Bob Woodward that the virus is airborne and ‘deadly stuff’ while downplaying its seriousness to Americans
Read more »