First U.S. coronavirus death happened weeks earlier than originally believed

“Two previously unreported COVID-19 victims from February in California appear to be the nation’s first coronavirus fatalities.”

Medical officials in California’s Santa Clara County, the heart of Silicon Valley, indicated late Tuesday that the first U.S. death connected to the coronavirus happened weeks earlier than previously believed.

This report was according to NBC News and Washington Post.

Two deaths on Feb. 6 and Feb. 17 were not initially thought to have been COVID-19-related, but further testing has revealed that they were, the county medical examiner said Tuesday.

A fatality reported by officials in Washington state Feb. 29 had been believed to be the earliest U.S. death from the novel coronavirus.

“Today, the Medical Examiner-Coroner received confirmation from the CDC that tissue samples from both cases are positive for SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19),” the County of Santa Clara Medical Examiner-Coroner said in a statement.

The county did not report a COVID-19 death until March 9, but on Tuesday said that at least three people had died from the illness before that.

“These three individuals died at home during a time when very limited testing was available only through the CDC,” the examiner-coroner’s office said. “Testing criteria set by the CDC at the time restricted testing to only individuals with a known travel history and who sought medical care for specific symptoms.”

An antibody study that looked at the prevalence of the virus in Santa Clara County found evidence that “implies that the infection is much more widespread than indicated by the number of confirmed cases.” The analysis, revealed last week, estimated that 2.5 percent to 4.2 of area residents have antibodies.

Dr. Jeff Smith, the county’s chief executive, told the Los Angeles Times earlier this month, “The virus was freewheeling in our community and probably has been here for quite some time.”