First deaths confirmed in US, Australia and Thailand
Paul Schemm, Rick Noack, Katie Mettler, Alex Horton, Meryl Kornfield and Derek Hawkins
March 1, 2020 at 11:20 a.m. EST
Coronavirus has likely been spreading undetected for about six weeks in Washington state, where the first U.S. death from covid-19 was reported this weekend. A genetic analysis of the virus from a newly diagnosed patient in Snohomish County closely matched that of a specimen from the first known coronavirus patient in the U.S., who traveled from China in January.
The evidence overwhelming suggests that these cases are linked through community transmission, researchers say, and that this has been going on for weeks, likely with hundreds of infections.
The United States, Australia and Thailand each reported their first coronavirus-related deaths over the weekend, all in the span of about 12 hours. Covid-19 has now killed patients on four continents, with the global death toll climbing toward 3,000.
The first U.S. death, in Washington state, was man in his 50s with underlying health conditions, health officials said. The patient had no recent travel history or contact with people known to be infected, suggesting he may have been infected through person-to-person transmission, officials said. It was not immediately clear when he was admitted, when his symptoms first appeared or how long it took health officials to test him ...
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2020/03/01/coronavirus-live-updates/
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