G-mooooo

Is it possible the virus has been circulating (i.e., community spread) in areas currently being impacted (NY, LA, Spain) as early as December?

Why wouldn’t their hospitals/healthcare system be impacted in the same manner as Italy, Spain, China and the U.S. if that is the case? (Piggybacking on my earlier question regarding whether the virus could have been in these regions, outside of China, longer.)