(Image source from: en.as.com)
While the entire world was focused on China dealing with the coronavirus outbreak, US was already experiencing hidden outbreaks in majority of the cities around. Even as early as February is when the outbreaks started happening.
It is believed that by the time New York City reported its very first confirmed case of covid-19, the infection had already spread across multiple cities in the country. Thousands of infection was making its way around the city, without the citizens knowing about the same.
Aside from New York, hidden outbreaks were also spreading across the cities of Boston, San Francisco, Chicago, Seattle long before the testing in each of these cities even started.
The same was showcased via a study conducted by the researchers at the Northwestern University who then shared their data and results with New York Times.
The researchers suggested that even as early as february while the entire world was focused on China, the outbreak had already initiated in US, seeding the blooming infection across the country.
The political leaders during February were still unsure of the measures to be taken and the possible decision surrounding the shutdown of schools and organisations. Not just that, little to no systemic testing was available during that time in the US.
Alessandro Vespignani, director of the Network Science Institute at Northeastern University in Boston, who is also the lead author of the study stated that while the country was grappling around the decisions to make and the lack of measures surrounding, the infection was already conducting a silent chain of transmission in the background.
This study model has brought together all the estimates of the infections, be it the severe cases or even the mild cases with little to no symptoms that were not detected earlier.
According to several of the researchers, they have concluded saying that this research does provide with the first clear accounting of how US lagged in detecting the virus effectively. The researchers also say that according to the findings there are chances that the virus can recur if the social distancing protocols are lifted early.
“Through February 27, this country only had 14 cases. We did that isolation and that contact tracing, and it was very successful. But then, when the virus more exploded, it got beyond the public health capacity,” said Dr. Robert R. Redfield, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
But, if the new numbers are to be taken into consideration, they are a lot higher than those initial counts. By february, when things started getting worse in Italy, those 14 cases in New York were just a miniscule glimpse into the country’s ill fate. Those were the fraction of the undetected cases that were already reported in the country.
More and more cases of covid-19 infected people were arriving in the country as there were no reports of restriction yet.
Knowing about the number of flights that were coming to US from Italy was like inviting a nightmare to your house, said Adriana Heguy, director of the Genome Technology Center at New York University’s Grossman School of Medicine.
US was still not testing the possible suspects and there was no way of knowing about the intensity of the condition without proper testing. Heguy believes that the current reports that suggest that the infection was silently spreading in the country is not a surprise at all.
Some of the scientists have even cautioned saying that the new reports of the possible estimates of the infection is still pretty high. Even with the testing surveillance at a lag, this is one such factor that is likely going to take things the wrong road.
Scientists have already highlighted that by the time some of the researchers get an outlook on the outbreak, things are pretty worse already.
The unseen carriers of the disease, majority of them who carry mild or no symptoms of the infection are the worst cases around. They can still spread the virus without their knowledge. This is one of the reasons why by the time several of the authorities took action, it was already too late to function.
But, few cities like Seattle took like before it got worse. They are one of those cities that were able to sustain further spread because of the early measures implemented by the authorities.
“We knew the numbers we saw were just the tip of iceberg, and that there were much greater numbers below the surface. We had to act,” said Jenny A. Durkan, the mayor of Seattle.
The primary reason behind the virulent outbreak was mainly because of the travel histories and the lack of immediate precautions and mitigation steps that were not imposed around in the situation.
By Somapika Dutta
