First coronavirus deaths in U.S. occurred three weeks earlier than first known

Autopsies reveal that the first coronavirus-related deaths in the U.S. occurred in Northern California, about three weeks earlier than first known.

The deaths occurred in Santa Clara County on February 6 and February 17. The previously first-known case was in Kirkland, Washington, on February 29.

The county’s Medical Examiner-Coroner’s office performed autopsies on two people who died in their home and sent their samples to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, according to CNN.