Virus ignited in US no earlier than mid-January, study says

MIKE STOBBE and CARLA K. JOHNSON Associated Press NEW YORK (AP) — The spark that started the U.S. coronavirus epidemic arrived during a three-week window from mid-January to early February, before the nation halted travel from China, according to the most comprehensive federal study to date of when the virus began spreading. That means anyone in the U.S. who thought they had the virus in December or early January probably had the flu, public health researchers said. Some people have claimed Americans were getting sick from the coronavirus as early as November and that infections were spreading in the U.S. before any case was identified, said Dr. Robert Redfield, the head of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. "(This) puts data into the discussion. Prior to this we