The first death from COVID-19 in the U.S.

Today, the CDC announced the first death from COVID-19 in the United States, a 50-year-old man in Washington state, and the source of the infection is unknown, with no known contact with an infected person. According to Robert Redfield, Director of the CDC, in today's White House press conference said there was  "no evidence of link of travel" to how the man contracted coronavirus.

While anthrax is not communicable, it sounds similar to a case during the Anthrax attacks in the U.S. in 2001, where a death occurred with no contact with anthrax-containing envelopes. Ollie Lundgren in Connecticut, was an elderly lady who only went out to have her hair done once a week. After extensive investigation involving a wide net, it was finally determined that she had a habit of ripping her junk mail before throwing it in the trash, thereby aerating the anthrax spores and exposing Ollie to a spray of anthrax spores. It happened that her mail had been exposed in mail sorting machines, and unfortunately, she became a victim.

Should we be looking for a similar pathway of infection? What if this individual had a habit of popping the air bubble/pillow packing material from China, where lots of our products are made and packed? The incredible viability of this virus to survive passing through vent systems in buildings might just allow it to survive in sealed plastic packing pillows, thereby releasing air contamined while in China.

The CDC has a corps of epidemiologists the EIS, Epidemiological Investigative Service, experienced and professional on-the-ground experts who search for the cause of infected humans and animals. I expect they are asking the same questions, right now.