The most important claim @POTUS #Trump makes regarding actions he has taken to control #COVID19 concerns travel bans levelled against China in late February/March. Patient Zero for Seattle area was thought to have come into US Feb 13, before the travel ban kicked in. BUT...
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2/ Important genetic study of 1000s of viruses led by Worobey shows that 1st Wuhan-2-Seattle case did NOT spawn the epidemic. That case infected few people. Rather, a later traveler from China, arriving AFTER the #Trump travel ban, started the WA State #COVID19 outbreak.
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3/ The NY & East Coast outbreak arrived separately, also after #Trump travel bans, from Europe. The European outbreak was thought to have been Wuhan-to-Bavaria-to-Italy, but, again, that spread died out. Instead, later Hubei-to-Italy spread spawned the Euro-to-NY-crisis.
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4/ All of this seems crucial, politically. (The Worobey paper is still a pre-print, so caution.) Why? Because it implies the #COVID19 #pandemic spread largely transpired AFTER the world was notified, alerts went out from #WHO & travel bans went in.
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5/ Given the narrative that blames @WHO & China for delaying world responses due to cover-up, this genetic analysis is vital. If it holds up, it demonstrates that no signif #COVID19 spread outside China occurred during the #Wuhan cover-up (Dec.2019 to Jan. 20), or before...
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6/... @WHO declared a #PHEIC (Public Health Emergency of International Concern) on Feb12. Paper: "Our finding that the virus associated with the first known transmission network in the US did not enter the country until mid-February is sobering, since it demonstrates that.."
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