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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7/ "...the window of opportunity to block sustained transmission of the virus stretched all the way until that point. It is clear that early interventions can have outsized effects on the course of an outbreak..." https://doi.org/10.1101/2020.05.21.109322">https://doi.org/10.1101/2...
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