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by earthicus 2248 days ago
>spread in places like the Bay Area may have started as early as January

This is known for certain in Seattle. The first case was in mid-January[1], then six weeks passed before the big outbreak started and genetic sequencing showed that the virus was directly descended from that original case six weeks earlier[2], indicating that there had been ongoing transmission throughout the community for the past six weeks.

[1] https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/health/snohomish-c...

[2] https://www.washingtonpost.com/health/coronavirus-may-have-s...

ps be sure to read that first link, published in january. It's absolutely maddening how cavelier everyone was being, even while China was literally shutting down a city the size of new york and sealing off the entire province...