美國科研人員在周一公布的一項政府主持的研究中指出，冠毒在美國的出現早於科學家和公共衛健官員早先的以為，也早於中國政府對冠毒病例的公開確認。

冠狀病毒和其引發的病症首先於2019年12月份在中國武漢得到確認，但首個美國境內病例直到一月二十日才被確診。

然而臨床傳染病學會在其雜誌上新發表的研究結果認為，官名為薩斯二號的冠毒在以上的時段之前就已經感染了美國人。

得出以上新發現的研究團隊認為: “薩斯二號也許在2019年12月就開始在美國傳染，早於先前之認為。”

The coronavirus was present in the U.S. weeks earlier than scientists and public health officials previously thought, and before cases in China were publicly identified, according to a new government study published Monday.

The virus and the illness that it causes, COVID-19, were first identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019, but it wasn't until about Jan. 20 that the first confirmed COVID-19 case, from a traveler returning from China, was found in the U.S.

However, new findings published in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases suggest that the coronavirus, known officially as SARS-CoV-2, had infected people in the U.S. even earlier.

"SARS-CoV-2 infections may have been present in the U.S. in December 2019, earlier than previously recognized," the authors said.

https://www.npr.org/sections/coronavirus-live-updates/2020/12/01/940395651/coronavirus-was-in-u-s-weeks-earlier-than-previously-known-study-says?utm_campaign=storyshare&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_medium=social