The spread of COVID-19 in the United States could begin as early as September 2019, earlier than in China, according to a study by Chinese scientists published on the scientific portal of preprints of scientific publications ChinaXiv.A group of scientists from China used a mathematical model to analyze the possible date of the beginning of the spread of COVID-19 in the United States and China, using data on the number of confirmed cases of infection.
"Based on the analysis of data from 12 representative regions of the United States selected to determine the date of the first case of infection, there is a 50% probability that the first case of infection occurred in the period from August to October 2019. This is earlier than the officially announced date of the first confirmed case in the United States - January 20, 2020," the report says.
According to scientists, the results of their analysis show that it is highly likely that COVID-19 began to spread in the United States in September 2019. At the same time, scientists note, the spread of COVID-19 in China itself, most likely, began only at the end of December 2019.
Earlier, US intelligence published a report on the origin of the coronavirus. American intelligence agencies have concluded that the coronavirus was not created as a biological weapon. At the same time, the participants of the investigation could not come to a consensus, two versions of the origin of the coronavirus are considered as possible: natural contact with an infected animal and an incident that occurred in the laboratory.
