(THE BLAZE) New York City became the primary source of COVID-19 outbreaks across the country before lockdown and travel restrictions were put in place, the New York Times reported.
Although the earliest known cases of the coronavirus were in Washington state, and the earliest known deaths in California’s Bay Area, genetic samples show that most coronavirus cases in almost every region, including nearly half in major West Coast locations, could be traced back to New York City.
“We now have enough data to feel pretty confident that New York was the primary gateway for the rest of the country,” Nathan Grubaugh, an epidemiologist at the Yale School of Public Health, said, according to the Times.
