The coronavirus may have reached Los Angeles even before China announced its outbreak

LA Times ^ | Sep. 10, 2020|7:45 AM | Karen Kaplan

[BenLurkin]

Researchers from UCLA and their colleagues at the University of Washington documented an unmistakable uptick in patients seeking treatment for coughs. The increase began the week of Dec. 22, 2019, and persisted through the end of February.

Some of those patients were treated in outpatient centers. Others came to emergency rooms, and some were ultimately admitted to the Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center or other hospitals operated by UCLA.

Officials with the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention first recognized that the coronavirus had reached American shores in mid-January, when a man in Washington state who had traveled to the area around Wuhan tested positive for an infection.

The researchers didn’t conduct any diagnostic tests, so they can’t say with certainty when doctors first encountered anyone infected with the virus ....But if the coronavirus had indeed been spreading under the radar since around Christmas, the pattern of patient visits to UCLA facilities would have looked a lot like what actually happened...

To look for signs of early COVID-19 patients, Elmore and her colleagues searched through more than 9.5 million outpatient visits, nearly 575,000 emergency room visits and almost 250,000 hospital admissions going back more than five years. Medical records that said a patient complained of a cough were included in the analysis.

The researchers counted a total of 2,938 patients who went to a clinic seeking help for a cough in the 13 weeks between Dec. 1, 2019, and Feb. 29, 2020. That was about 1,047 more than the average number of cough patients seen during the same three-month period in the previous five years. It was also about 739 more than the number of patients seen in the winter of 2016-17, which until this year had been the busiest cough season for clinics since 2014.

[StormEye]

"Is this an attempt to take the blame off China ?"

Probably.
But it's more likely that the Wuhan lab
had been "leaking" the virus much earlier
than thought. The Chi-Comms knew that the virus had
escaped the lab and just decided to lay low
and see what would become of the situation.

[MrRelevant]

I think I had in January.... caught on a trip to Vegas to see a concert. Never bothered testing tho.

[Hoffer Rand]

I can believe this. Hubby and I were in the LA area in December, moving my parents to be close to us. For about a week, he was SO sick, coughing, shortness of breath, severe fatigue, aching, low grade fever, nausea. God was SO merciful. Hubby drove my parents to Utah (13 hours of driving) in that condition, and not only was he able to successfully do that, but neither of my parents ever got sick. They’re in their 80s.

[Big Red Badger]

I had something
Thanksgiving 2019,,,

[aimhigh]

A friend of mine was on a cruise ship in December to Mexico, with many Chinese passengers. He, and many got sick, with Covid symptoms.

[Crusher138]

We were in Las Vegas on December 21st and 22nd staying at Treasure Island. The guests were overwhelmingly Asian, easily +60%.

By Christmas Eve I had a fever and a weird cough that would not go away. I skipped Christmas Eve Services for the first time in my life. It hung on until January 7th.

Pretty sure I had the ‘rona.

[1Old Pro]

The researchers didn’t conduct any diagnostic tests, so they can’t say with certainty when doctors first encountered anyone infected with the virus

Trust the science, they're all over it.

[1Old Pro]

I have been saying That all along. Back in late Dec-early January in CT I notice a Huge uptick in people sick with flu like symptoms.

Half the people at a Christmas Party in Boston I went too had flue like symptoms a week later.

[Grampa Dave]

There a few of us from Seattle to LA in the west coastal areas have wondered if we might have been visited by this critter in late Nov. Thanksgiving to/through Christmas/New Years.

Anecdotal events suggests that COVID-19 may have been here in the Bay Area in November 2019:

Covid-19 may have been circulating in China as early as August 2019, a new study from Harvard Medical School (HMS) claims.

My personal possible brush with the Corona crud this past fall/winter:

I, also live about 50 air miles from where the original Stanford study (cited below) was done:

https://spectator.us/stanford-study-suggests-coronavirus-more-widespread-realized/

I am a 81 year old male in fairly good health: Update on Immunizations and other problems:

INFs Pres Free High Dose (FLUZONE) (influenza)
Administered 9/26/2019

ZOS (Herpes zoster recombinant) Shingrix
Administered 10/4/2019, and then I had a mild fever my arm ached like a mule kicked it for About 4 days.

After the above, I felt great and had increased my mile walk to twice a day.

NOV/27/2019:
Two days before Thanksgiving, after I woke up and got out of bed, I had blood in my urine and a swollen rt. testicle and 100 degree temp. I felt like that mule kicked me over my right kidney. I had felt good the day before and did about an hour of PT with a physical therapist and my walks.
The next day I had the fever, blood in my urine and the ache described/noted above.

When that happens to an 81 year old male, the Clinics immediately bring you in.

I saw a doctor very quickly at our local big K clinic that afternoon.

She prescribed a week’s therapy of Levaquin*, an oral fluoroquinolone, which I got at the pharmacy, shortly after seeing the doctor. I took my first dose in our car while my wife drove us home. They also, got a urine sample from me, before I left the building. There was no infection just red blood in my urine. That went away after about 24 hours on the meds. I, also, got 5 days of Bactrim DS.

Later, the various tests for a kidney stone problem showed nothing.

From that onset to about to early March, I had some of the symptoms reported by other freepers: “cough” and eposodic “diarrhea”, Low energy, lack of taste/smell, headache, chills, cough and lower GI problems. Very cold feet and hands, which I never had before.

During our family Christmas dinner and the Exchange of presents, I probably passed my crud on to one of our adult sons, who had The crud until about the middle of February,. He had most of the same symptoms I had. He missed more work in a couple of six weeks with this crud than in his career.

Our 19 year old grandson, then apparently got the crud and didn’t feel good for a few days. Then he recovered and went back to college.

Both of these guys are basically never sick.

None of our women folk got the crud, Ages 20-80. If they did, it was very minor and short lived.

As noted in previous posts, several male friends, who had zero contact with me in Nov/Dec/Jan..
Had similar symptons in Feb/March. One friend labeled it the AT&T/Comcast flu as we had zero physical interactions before the crud besides phone calls and texting. Common symptoms: headache, eposodic “diarrhea, chills at night and basically no sense of smell nor appetite.

*Levaquin, (levofloxacin) is in a class of antibiotics called fluoroquinolones. Other antibiotics in this class of drugs include ciprofloxacin (Cipro), norfloxacin, (Noroxin), ofloxacin (Floxin), trovafloxacin (Trovan), lomefloxacin (Maxaquin), gatifloxacin (Tequin), and moxifloxacin (Avelox).

Just before all of this happened, I got a new Resmed Cpap machine. That enabled me to get a good night’s rest during this possible bout with the CV and since then.

https://uncoverdc.com/2020/04/06/the-curve-is-already-flat/

[SpaceBar]

Researchers from UCLA...

Has anyone visited a bio-lab lately? To say it's dominated by asians, mostly chinese is an understatement.

[null and void]

You might call this 20/19 hindsight...

Bring Out Your Dead

Post to me or FReep mail to be on/off the Bring Out Your Dead ping list.

The purpose of the “Bring Out Your Dead” ping list (formerly the “Ebola” ping list) is very early warning of emerging pandemics, as such it has a high false positive rate.

The false positive rate was 100%.

At some point we may well have a high mortality pandemic, and likely as not the “Bring Out Your Dead” threads will miss the beginning entirely.

*sigh* Such is life, and death...

If a quarantine saves just one child's or one old fart’s life, it's worth it.

[matt04]

In North central Connecticut by mid to late January it had sort of died down from my observations. From late December to mid January half the people in any store you went into were coughing or obviously sick, Then by late January into early February everyone seemed healthy like you would expect at that time of year and everything was normal.

I wouldn’t be surprised if that was at least partially due to coronavirus and maybe others getting some form of heard immunity as the people that were out and exposed earlier we’re fine and maybe the people who have been inside more we’re not as exposed and then proceed to catch It And get tested once the media freaked out about it while the others already had it and we’re never tested.

[just Grace]

I agree that it may have been around for over a year. My boyfriend died in March of what they labeled ‘Idiopathic Pulmonory Fibrosis’. It came on suddenly and he declined quickly. When he was put on oxygen I began to wonder if it was contaigeous because my lungs and breathing seemed to be affected. (Meaning we both could have had it unknowingly but I was in better health and able to shake it off.)

[ProtectOurFreedom]

Interesting because we live a few miles south of Stanford University and my wife got REALLY ill in mid November. I was up at our house in Idaho at the time so I did’t get it. Similar symptoms — severe lung congestion, malaise, aches. Our kids who visited said they had never seen Mom so sick as that. We’ve been wondering if she had it in mid Nov 2019.

[gleeaikin]

What state were you staying in?

[gleeaikin]

I read months agp that the wesr coast had a milder version of Covid than what hit Italy and our east coast.

[gleeaikin]

“Lack of taste and smell.” A definite symptom of ZINC deficiency. See the link below regarding an effective treatment for early Covid. I suspect many of the people who are getting sick are suffering from multiple sub-clinical vitamin and mineral deficiencies, especially those with co-morbidities

[gleeaikin]

Oops, forgot to include the link for Comment #37.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1SesxgaPnpT6OfCYuaFSwXzDK4cDKMbivoALprcVFj48/preview

[SoCal Pubbie]

California where I live.

[gleeaikin]

After I had already sent the comment I looked again and rea;ized SoCal probably meant Southern California. Cheers