Does this study change the Covid-19 narrative about when the virus was in the United States?

The American Red Cross has released a report that may change the realities of the Covid-19 pandemic. The organization announced that a new study has been published based on tests performed on donated blood at the Red Cross, and it shows the presence of the coronavirus in samples dated December 2019. This could become deeply significant based on the accepted schedule of events we have. been served so far.

Because China has not been fully open to the epidemic, the origins are rather unclear. It is believed there were indications they were battling the virus in November of last year. China and the World Health Organization officially recognized the presence of Covid-19 near New Year’s Eve 2019. The United States was informed of the outbreak in January and we are told that the first official case has been registered in the middle of the month. The new study, however, indicates the possibility of a much earlier arrival.

“This study set out to determine when the virus might have first appeared in the United States using archived samples from routine blood donations collected by the Red Cross. The unidentifiable blood samples used in the study – from donors in nine states between December 1, 13, 2019 and January 17, 2020. “

The conclusion; it appears that the introduction of the virus into the United States may have taken place much earlier than expected, possibly in the fall of 2019.

In the study of blood samples, Covid-19 antibodies were detected in 84 donors on the west coast of Washington, Oregon and California as of December 13. Other samples came from donations made between late December and mid-January from six other states with the antibodies – Iowa, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island and Wisconsin. The key aspect is that these did not show positive viral activity but the presence of anti-SARS CoV-2 antibodies, the virus causing Covid-19.

Since this period of development of these antibodies is estimated to be one to two weeks, the date of possible infection is at least November. The Center for Disease Control says anti-Covid-19 antibodies have now been shown to take 60 to 90 days to stay within a testable threshold. This would reduce the infection dates for some to perhaps September 2019.

The idea that these results could come from donations made by those who travel outside the country is a possibility, but it is a limiting factor. The Red Cross reports that it is investigating donors and finds that less than 3 percent of those who donate have traveled outside the country; of this small figure, only 5% said they had traveled to Asia.

There is also a possibility of cross-reactivity with more common coronavirus strains, but the study specifically targets the Covid-19 strain responsible for our pandemic. As the new virus becomes more and more known, new serological tests are being put online to detect antibodies to the SARS CoV-2 virus. If this study continues to determine the epidemic’s previous presence in the United States, it could change thinking about the epidemic. Further studies will be carried out to clarify the details.