New York City was the source of US outbreak: Yale professor says 65% of the country's cases stemmed from the Big Apple - while fewer cases spread from Washington where America's first case was recorded.

The rapid spread of coronavirus infections across the United States is believed to have stemmed from the outbreak in New York City with an estimated 65 percent of cases linked to the epicenter, researchers say.

An analysis of genetic samples and travel history suggests that COVID-19 started spreading from New York to other states, including California, Arizona, Louisiana and Texas, weeks before lockdown measures were introduced.

The data analysis from the New York Times indicates that more infections across the country are linked to a line of the virus associated with cases in New York rather than Washington state where the first US case was reported in late January.

Researchers analyzing COVID-19 samples across the US say they can identify distinct mutations that show where the virus originated - even though the virus replicates when it infects a new person.

Nathan Grubaugh, an epidemiologist at the Yale School of Public Health, estimates that about 65 percent of the infections across the country spread from New York.

'We now have enough data to feel pretty confident that New York was the primary gateway for the rest of the country,' Grubaugh said.

There are currently more than 1.2 million infections in the US and over 74,000 deaths.




Washington state currently has 16,600 infections and 879 deaths, while epicenter New York has 323,000 cases and 19,800 deaths.

In California, which has more than 60,600 infections and 2,400 deaths, 50 percent of the samples are linked to the New York outbreak and 32 percent to Washington.

In Louisiana, where New Orleans quickly became a hotspot following Mardi Gras celebrations, every sample has been linked to New York. The state has so far 30,300 and more than 2,000 deaths.

Likewise in Iowa, which has 10,000 cases, all samples are linked to New York.

Of the samples in Alaska, which has 370 infections and 10 deaths, 80 percent are linked to New York and none are linked to the Washington outbreak.

The majority of samples taken in states like Texas, Utah, Ohio, Idaho, Virginia and Wisconsin can also be linked back to the same line of the virus that originated in New York.
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