Thread by @mgafni

Wow. Santa Clara County announces that autopsies find three people died from #COVID19 before March 9, originally thought to be first county death

One of those people died Feb. 6 long before

The first US death was previously reported in Washington in Feb. 29.

This news means #coronavirus was in the Bay Area well before anyone knew it

And Santa Clara County public health officials say those early #COVID19 deaths slipped through the cracks due to lack of tests & strict testing parameters

Samples of those early cases were sent to the CDC and results came back today that they were indeed the first US cases (that we know of)

And it again raises the question of whether or not there are many more at-home #COVID19 deaths not part of the death toll tabulation

Article posted on these stunning autopsy results. Blows up what had previously been reported as first US #COVID19 death
sfchronicle.com/health/article… @erinallday @matthewkawahara @sfchronicle

Here is the full statement from Santa Clara County public health officials
sfchronicle.com/health/article…

As @erinallday reports, typically takes a month for someone to die from #COVID19 after infection; suggesting it’s likely person who died Feb. 6 was infected in early January.

Again, blowing up everything we thought we knew about #coronavirus entry into US
sfchronicle.com/health/article…

Wild overnight news...and late Tuesday, @matthewkawahara spoke to Santa Clara public health officer about the autopsy cases:

“From what we understand, neither of the cases had a history of travel. So we assume that they were acquired locally.”
sfchronicle.com/health/article…