New York City became the primary source of COVID-19 outbreaks across the country before lockdown and travel restrictions were put in place, the New York Times reported.
Although the earliest known cases of the coronavirus were in Washington state, and the earliest known deaths in California's Bay Area, genetic samples show that most coronavirus cases in almost every region, including nearly half in major West Coast locations, could be traced back to New York City.
"We now have enough data to feel pretty confident that New York was the primary gateway for the rest of the country," Nathan Grubaugh, an epidemiologist at the Yale School of Public Health, said, according to the Times.
Most new Covid-19 hospitalizations in New York state are from people who were staying home and not venturing much outside, a “shocking” finding, Gov. Andrew Cuomo said Wednesday.
The preliminary data was from 100 New York hospitals involving about 1,000 patients, Cuomo said at his daily briefing.
It shows that 66% of new admissions were from people who had largely been sheltering at home. The next highest source of admissions was from nursing homes, 18%.
