“New research indicates that the coronavirus began to circulate in the New York area by mid-February, weeks before the first confirmed case, and that travelers brought in the virus mainly from Europe, not Asia.”
“The research revealed a previously hidden spread of the virus that might have been detected if aggressive testing programs had been put in place.”
“In January, as the scope of the catastrophe in China became clear, a few countries started an aggressive testing program. They were able to track the arrival of the virus on their territory and track its spread through their populations.”
“But the United States fumbled in making its first diagnostic kits and initially limited testing only to people who had come from China and displayed symptoms of Covid-19.”
“It was a disaster that we didn’t do testing,” Dr. Heguy said.”
(https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/08/science/new-york-coronavirus-cases-europe-genomes.html)
danelabonte 