New York's coronavirus crisis tracked back to European travel -- not China: scientists

The New York Times reported Wednesday that scientists have tracked the cases of coronavirus in New York back to travel from Europe.

The Times explained that genomes show the link to those who came down with the virus back in February.

President Donald Trump has been celebrating his decision to shut down some travel from China, though not all travel. A whopping 430,000 people have traveled from China to the United States since the coronavirus crisis.

"There were 1,300 direct flights to 17 cities before President Trump’s travel restrictions. Since then, nearly 40,000 Americans and other authorized travelers have made the trip, some this past week and many with spotty screening," the Times reported.

Yet, the president didn't stop flights from Europe until March 11, over a month after his soft-shutdown of flights from China.

“People were just oblivious,” said Adriana Heguy, a member of the team at the N.Y.U. Grossman School of Medicine.

Read the full report at the New York Times.