Autopsies upend America's coronavirus timeline -- it was here a lot earlier than you think

Two people in California died from the coronavirus in early and mid-February, showing the highly contagious virus had spread much earlier than had previously been known.

Officials in Santa Clara County announced late Tuesday that autopsies showed two residents had died from COVID-19 at their homes on Feb. 6 and Feb. 17, much earlier than the first reported coronavirus death on Feb. 29 in the Seattle area, reported the New York Times.

“Each one of those deaths is probably the tip of an iceberg of unknown size,” said Sara Cody, the county’s chief medical officer. “It feels quite significant.”