‘OUR OWN FAULT’

The Majority of U.S. Coronavirus Infections Stem From New York City, Research Shows

The new findings suggest the virus could have been slowed in the U.S. if NYC had been locked down sooner.

A wave of coronavirus infections across the nation was caused by people traveling from New York before the city was locked down, according to research reported by The New York Times. Nathan Grubaugh, an epidemiologist at the Yale School of Public Health, estimates that viruses spreading from New York account for as much as 65 percent of the infections across the U.S. Grubaugh said: “We now have enough data to feel pretty confident that New York was the primary gateway for the rest of the country.” The findings are based on the tracking of virus mutations, travel histories of infected people, and models of the outbreak by disease experts. Researchers say the findings show that by taking earlier action, the city could have slowed the virus’ spread across the country. Kristian Andersen of Scripps Research said: “It means that we missed the boat early on, and the vast majority in this country is coming from domestic spread... I keep hearing that it’s somebody else’s fault. That’s not true. It’s not somebody else’s fault, it’s our own fault.”