Dr. Ashish Jha, director of the Harvard Global Health Institute, estimates there will be 100,000 further fatalities from Covid-19 in the next three months.
Multiple infected individuals with different strains of coronavirus acted as 'seeds' for the outbreak of the disease in California, one of the hardest hit state in the US, as early as January, a new study suggests.
The origin and early spread of coronavirus in the US remains a subject of debate and controversy. If health experts can identify the cracks in monitoring efforts that allowed the virus to slip through, perhaps they can be better prepared for the next pandemic.
A new analysis of viral genomes from the University of California, San Francisco, suggests that at least seven different strains arrived and spread in the state - including one strain that was most likely transmitted from a single passenger on the Grand Princess cruise ship to 700 others onboard.
READ MORE
Those disparate entry points of the virus also underscore where even fast-acting California failed to detect outbreak and trace the contacts of early cases.
Improving screening and contact tracing is crucial again as US cities reopen and human-to-human contact itself increases.
A graphic from the UCSF study shows how at least seven individuals imported different strains of coronavirus to Northern California counties and the Diamond Princess cruise ship
Like any virus, SARS-CoV-2 has mutated and splintered into various lineages around the world.
In comparison to other viruses, coronavirus has evolved relatively slowly - but it has still outpaced health systems' detection and tracking in the US.
Coronavirus has now infected nearly two million Americans, killing more than 110,000.
In California alone, nearly 135,000 people have been infected.
And according to the new UCSF analysis, they've caught any one of seven different strains, imported to the state by as many sources.
The first coronavirus case in the US was confirmed in Washington state on January 20.
That patient, a man in his 30s who had recently travelled back to his home in Snohomish County from Wuhan, China, had been keeping up with reports of the virus emerging there, as well as the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's (CDC) information about the new coronavirus.
Click here to see more.
SOURCE: Mail Online
Comments