Coronavirus active in Florida since January

Recently released data shows that 171 people in Florida had been infected with the coronavirus in January and February, in contrast to the US state's announcement of its first two infections on March 1.

According to the The Palm Beach Post, the data from state's Department of Health, or DOH, relating to the recently revealed infections had been put up on the department's website, showing the dates of the people's initial symptoms. But these cases were removed from the website on Monday, without explanation.

Later, the data about the earlier cases was uploaded again but without the dates of the onset of symptoms.

The Palm Beach Post had downloaded the original data, and the newspaper's analysis revealed that the state recorded the 171 people across 40 counties who were later listed as having contracted the virus in January and February.

It's unclear whether the 171 cases were included as a result of self-reported symptoms or later test results. Testing for the novel coronavirus was not available in Florida until later in February. The earlier cases involved people aged from 4 to 91.

In January, 26 people were recorded as having shown symptoms. The Post listed a few of the earlier cases:

A 4-year-old girl in Duval County started experiencing symptoms in early January. The state did not officially record her case until April 8.

A 65-year-old man in Broward County who had traveled to the Cayman Islands was also described as having symptoms around that time, but his case was not recorded until March 7.

An 84-year-old Palm Beach County man who had not traveled but was hospitalized, was still showing symptoms in early February. His case was not added to Florida's coronavirus tally until April 3.

A 74-year-old Palm Beach County woman with symptoms or a positive result on Feb 23 was recorded by the state on April 4. She reported no out-of-state travel but came into contact with someone carrying the virus.

A 30-year-old Broward County man, whose first positive result was recorded on Feb 25, later died, His case was added on March 15.

A 65-year-old man in Sarasota County who had traveled to California and came into contact with an infected person reported symptoms or had a positive result on Feb 23. State health officials added his case on April 6.

According to The Miami Herald, Alberto Moscoso, a spokesman for the DOH, said that many confirmed patients "reported symptoms that started weeks before their confirmatory tests".

Community spread

"It cannot be determined definitively if these early symptoms were a result of COVID-19 or other causes," Moscoso said.

"That's community spread," said Eric Toner of the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security. "It's invisible, it's invisible, it's invisible, until it's suddenly obvious."

There had been evidence that the spread of the coronavirus in the US occurred earlier than originally believed. The first known death previously was thought to have happened in Seattle on Feb 26.

However, an autopsy showed that a person who died on Feb 6 in Santa Clara, California, was infected.