New medical records from UCLA indicates that COVID-19 may have been swirling around Los Angeles well before the World Health Organization was even aware of the virus in Wuhan, China.
According to the Los Angeles Times, UCLA, collaborating with researchers from the University of Washington, documented an identifiable rise in patients seeking treatment for upper respiratory illnesses dating back to the third week of December in 2019, persisting through February 2020.
Coronavirus wasn't officially recognized by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) until mid-January, when a Washington state man who had traveled to Wuhan China tested positive for the virus.
“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.
Elmore and her team investigated charts going back five years of more than 9.5 million outpatient visits, nearly 575,000 emergency room visits and almost 250,000 hospital admissions, who complained of a cough.
