An antibody testing study has provided additional evidence that the coronavirus was likely present in the United States from December 2019, which is weeks before the first confirmed case was detected on January 21, 2020.

The study conducted by the National Institutes of Health evaluated 24,000 stored blood samples obtained from volunteers across the country between January 2 and March 18, last year. Antibodies against the SARS-CoV-2 virus were detected using two different serology tests in nine patient samples. The first positive samples were from participants in Illinois and Massachusetts on January 7 and 8, 2020, respectively. This indicates that the virus was present in these states in late December. The study is published in Clinical Infectious Diseases… (NDTV – AFP, June 16, 2021)