Abstract
ObjectivesThere is uncertainty about when the first cases of COVID-19 appeared in Spain. We aimed to determine whether influenza diagnoses masked early COVID-19 cases and estimate numbers of undetected COVID-19...
Highlights
A new infectious disease, named COVID-19, was identified by Chinese authorities on 7 January 2020 as the cause of an outbreak of pneumonia in Wuhan.[1]
Some have speculated that undetected COVID-19 cases may have been categorised as influenza before the first official case was reported in Spain.[13]
Diagnosticat is a website that reports in real-time all influenza diagnoses recorded by all general practitioners (GPs) working at any of the primary-c are centres run by the Institut Català de la Salut (ICS)
Summary
A new infectious disease, named COVID-19, was identified by Chinese authorities on 7 January 2020 as the cause of an outbreak of pneumonia in Wuhan.[1]. The first three cases in Europe were reported in France on 24 January 2020.12 The first imported COVID-19 case in Spain was dated 31 January 2020 in La Gomera, and the first in Catalonia reported a month after, on 25 February 2020. The total number of confirmed cases in Catalonia increased exponentially, with 715 cumulative cases reported by 14 March 2020 and a striking 4203 on 20 March 2020. Despite these official figures, it is uncertain whether SARS-C oV-2 was circulating in the community before the first official cases. It is difficult to believe, for example, that this airborne infection did not cross the uncontrolled borders between Catalonia and France for a whole month. Some have speculated that undetected COVID-19 cases may have been categorised as influenza before the first official case was reported in Spain.[13]
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