A new study from the University of Texas at Austin reveals the novel coronavirus was raging through Seattle months before the first case was reported.<br />Researchers estimate Seattle already had at least 9,000 cases by March 9, when the city implemented lockdown measures.<br />Of these, thousands likely involved children. As COVID-19 was initially unknown, cases were misdiagnosed as influenza.<br />At the time, Gizmodo reports there were fewer than 200 cases reported in the state as a whole.<br />The University of Texas at Austin researchers also estimate that people may have been spreading the virus in Seattle as early as Christmas.
