Given the typical 3-4 week lag between exposure and death, they were likely exposed by mid-January.
Important Q for case investigation - had either traveled to China? If not, it would be a sign that community spread was underway even earlier than known.
Important Q for case investigation - had either traveled to China? If not, it would be a sign that community spread was underway even earlier than known.
The press release comment about "very limited testing" raises the question of whether they didn't meet the criteria at the time (which required travel to China and severe symptoms requiring hospitalization). 
This news again underscores 1) the enduring damage of the US testing debacle, and 2) the futile blunder of the travel bans. Blinded by the testing failures and distracted by the travel bans, the USG missed that the domestic outbreak was already underway, undetected.
