CDC scientists reported that COVID-19 potentially arrived to the U.S. sooner than what most people believed. Scientists at the CDC found evidence of COVID-19 infection in 106 out of 7,389 blood donation via the American Red Cross from nine states. The American Red Cross collected these blood donations between December 13th, 2019, and January 17th, 2020. The Red Cross had sent them to the CDC to see if they had any potential antibodies for COVID-19 when it was named SARS-CoV-2. This means that the initial infection rate was much higher than originally recorded, estimating that only 1 in 8 cases were being identified.

 

Image Credit: americasblood.org