I asked for ‘early spread’ anecdotes and, boy, did I get them

Project generated intriguing testimonials, and at least seven more antibody-confirmed early cases.

The viruses you get in Las Vegas … don’t stay in Las Vegas …. “A breeding ground for such a thing as the international travel here is so huge,” Las Vegas came up several times in reports from my citizen correspondents....

Last week, I published a story at my new Substack site which presented evidence of three Americans who had antibody evidence of having Covid in November 2019. The Citizen Free Press picked up my story with the headline, “Researcher seeking info on 2019 Covid cases.”

As a result of this, I received a flood of direct emails as well as people telling their stories in the Reader Comment section of this Substack.

In the dispatch that follows, I summarize some of the findings that jumped out at me.  In the lower part of this dispatch, I include excerpts from some of the more interesting or representative responses I received.

DISCLAIMER: I certainly do not believe everyone who suspects they had Covid before February 2020 actually had Covid. However, I do think a certain, if unknown, percentage of people who were sick with flu or Covid-like symptoms before the official arrival of Covid probably did have Covid. My personal opinion - based on copious research, common-sense extrapolations and my own investigative journalism -  is that millions of global citizens had already been infected with this virus prior to January 1, 2020.

I added sub-heads and boldfaced certain text for readers who may want to skim this document.

Seven readers report antibody confirmation of early infection ….

Notably, at least seven respondents reported they and/or a spouse had tested positive for antibodies in this time frame.

In my previous article, I identified 17 Americans (featured in press reports) from five states who had antibody evidence of infection in November and December 2019. If the CDC did investigate and then “confirm” these six additional possible/likely cases, that would be 23 Americans from 10 states I’ve now identified who almost certainly had Covid before 2020. This number does not include the 106 Americans from 10 or so other states who tested positive for antibodies in the ONE “Red Cross Blood Study” the CDC belatedly published. Nor does this figure include the unknown individuals who infected these individuals nor does it include all the people who fit this profile who were never identified by journalists or public health officials.

The Key to the Operation …

Very few respondents in this sample actually went and got an antibody test. Tests - perhaps intentionally? -  were not widely administered until late April and May 2020. If antibody tests had been widely available by early or mid-March, many more “early spread” Americans would have been identified - a result that very well might have eased the national panic as it would be clear this virus “horse” had long since escaped the barn. It’s possible the initiative to vaccinate every American would have fallen on more deaf ears as many Americans would realize they already had natural immunity.

Furthermore, if one believes (as I do) that the true “key to the operation” for our medical and governing elites was to get everyone vaccinated - and then roll out “vaccine passports,” a precursor to digital control of our lives - one can see that concealing evidence of wide-spread infection rates might be a project of supreme importance to these individuals and organizations.

Where was ‘early spread’ occurring?

In a word, everywhere. Or, to be a tad more precise, almost everywhere. Some citizen correspondents didn’t include their state or city in their replies, but U.S. states referenced included California, Washington, Oregon, Texas, Arizona, Florida, New York, New Jersey, Rhode Island, Pennsylvania, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Alabama, Oklahoma, Nebraska, Maryland, Illinois, Indiana, Maine, Nevada, New Mexico and Hawaii among other states.

Internationally, I received reports of likely outbreaks or early cases in China (of course), Vietnam, the Philippines, Canada, Israel, Italy, the UK and France among other nations.

Symptoms and Date of Symptom Onset …

Just about everyone described the symptoms that he/she, a family member or co-workers experienced and, with very few exceptions, these were a perfect match with “signature” Covid symptoms.

A terrible and painful (often “dry”) and lingering cough, acute shortness of breath, extreme fatigue and body aches, fever, chills, sore throat and a loss of small and/or taste were common symptoms reported.    

A large number of respondents reported their sickness was unlike any other flu or “bug” they’d ever experienced. Several noted their symptoms came on more rapidly, and their symptoms lingered longer than previous bouts with the flu. Several people noted that, just when they thought that they were getting better, they would have another bout of symptoms.

Good, Old-Fashioned Yellow Journalism ….

While many “experts” and journalists discount the significance of the type of anecdotes that follow, this particular journalist places great weight on the fact that a vast number of global citizens self-report their sickness was unlike anything they had ever experienced before.

I couldn’t find the article in my voluminous Covid files, but I distinctly remember reading an article from 2020, perhaps in the New York Times, that acknowledged that many Americans suspect they had Covid before mid-January 2020, but these readers, per the journalist and the experts the article quoted, are ALL wrong.

Two examples I did save which are embarrassing to the profession of journalism show how NJ.com “journalists” treated the claim of Belleville New Jersey Mayor Michael Melham that he had Covid in November 2019. With the first link, just read the headline. With the second link, note how the Mayor was scolded and castigated by a columnist for the offense of reporting his own convictions, personal beliefs based on sound, almost irrefutable evidence.  (I was overjoyed to learn that Mayor Melham won re-election in a landslide.)

According to perhaps 10 “early spread” respondents, their doctors admitted they didn’t know what virus made these patients sick. A fair number of respondents said their physicians told them that their early cases very well could have been Covid. Several of my citizen correspondents are in fact doctors or nurses themselves. Many respondents reported they had received a flu test, which was negative.

What month did people experience symptoms?

Based on this sample, it looks like the most common date of reported “early spread” in America was mid to latter November (around Thanksgiving) 2019 through early December. I also received many reports of illnesses in January 2020. My guess (“educated,” I think) is that the real “first wave” of this virus hit America a little before Thanksgiving 2019 and then lasted through the first week in December. Another wave happened around Christmas 2019 and lasted into the first or second week of January 2020.

I was surprised by the number of correspondents who believe they had Covid even earlier. I counted at least five people who think they might have had Covid as early as March or April 2019 and several others in the spring or early fall of 2019. One reader encouraged me to not discount an origination timeline that goes back to the spring of 2019.

Several correspondents said they did ultimately receive an antibody test and these tests were negative for antibodies. However, several of these correspondents wondered if their antibodies may have faded to undetectable levels by the time they received their blood tests. (How long detectable levels of antibodies persist still seems to be an open, but important, scientific question. Other studies suggest T-cells and not necessarily detectable levels of IgG antibodies are what really provide long-term immunity).

Many respondents reported they’ve never come down with Covid after their “early” cases, suggesting these people might have acquired long-lasting natural immunity. However, a fair number of people reported they had come down with one or more “confirmed” cases after their possible early case. Many of these respondents noted their subsequent case(s) occurred much later than their first case and speculated that any immunity they may have received did not “work” against new variants.

Suggesting “community spread,” a large number of respondents reported that one or more family members or co-workers also experienced the same symptoms at roughly the same time they did.

At least three respondents said they knew someone they think may have died from Covid before Covid was supposed to be in America. A fair number of respondents reported being hospitalized or “almost hospitalized.”

Let the Excerpts Begin ….

N = 150. I received 104 emails or Reader Comments after my “early spread” article was published at this Substack newsletter. I received approximately 46 comments after the same article was previously published at The Brownstone Institute and The Daily Sceptic, which also has a Comments Section. To read the comments my article generated from this UK-based website, see this link. What follows are excerpts from some of the direct responses I’ve received to date.

Note: The following replies have been lightly edited for spelling, etc and for space reasons. Except for the first several responses, I decided not to use any names.

‘Extraordinarily sick’ in December, received positive antibody tests in April and June …

I, too, was extraordinarily sick at Christmas 2019, and doctors told me it wasn't flu, wasn't strep, wasn't pneumonia, but weren't sure what it WAS.  Then later (in April and June 2020) I also had two positive antibody tests.  Most of my family and I believe it was certainly Covid, but many others give me the same, “You must have had something else and then an asymptomatic Covid infection" line rather than entertain the possibility it could have indeed been Covid.  Reading others' stories helps me feel validated and a little less frustrated.  Thank you very much for taking the time to look into this.  Perhaps one day we'll all know what really happened.
- Rachel Benedetto, Metro New York

Austin, Texas couple sick in November, tests positive for antibodies in May …

I’m pretty sure I had Covid in November 2019.  Had a dry cough.  Drip in the back of my throat.  Horrendous fatigue.  A rattle in my chest.  Went to the Doc-In-A-Box.  Doctor poked and prodded.  Finally …  A puzzled look flashes across her face.  “Yes, it’s viral,” she says, “but not like anything I’ve seen before.  Go home.  Treat symptoms.”  I missed a week of work, but recovered.  In May of 2020, I had a test; my blood was crawling with antibodies …  My wife nursed me during my illness.  She never developed symptoms, but she had antibodies in May 2020 as well. 

… I saw that doctor again about a year later.  Suggested to her that I might have had Covid; there were reports that it might have been possible.  She said, “You probably did.  All the doctors here were seeing some odd respiratory things starting about that time…”

And long Covid is for real.  It is a thing.  My wife and I are still fighting symptoms that popped up after November 2019.  Mine are neurological in nature, while hers seem related to her pituitary gland ….  (Mr. Taylor added neither he nor his wife have tested positive for Covid since and neither have been vaccinated. “It’s becoming apparent that we made the right choice.”) - Stephen Taylor, Austin Texas.

Sick after trip to France, has antibodies …
I also contracted Covid end of November/beginning of December 2019 after returning from a trip to France. Was really sick for about 4-5 days. After giving blood sometime in the summer of 2020, I found out I had the antibodies. - Sean from Fort Lauderdale, Florida

Sick in November, has antibodies ….In late November 2019 (in Nebraska)…
I became very ill with what I thought was a really bad cold. I just couldn’t get over the thing. Spent about two weeks in bed.  In December 2020, I donated blood to the Red Cross. When the blood work was analyzed, low and behold the Covid spike protein was detected.  To my knowledge I have not contracted the dreaded virus since.

After the initial donation I went back to donate again but they wouldn’t draw due to an intermittent heartbeat. My next June physical I asked my physician to write a note that this is not a reason for concern.  Red Cross would not accept that and sent me home. In a follow-up email, Mr. Rust provided the message he received from The Red Cross on December 7, 2020:

“Reactive test result: Indicates that only your initial antibody test was reactive for COVID-19 antibodies, while the second test that we performed was not reactive or was not able to be completed. This result means that you likely received the COVID-19 vaccine and did not have a COVID infection. Another less common explanation for a reactive result is that we were unable to complete both tests. If your test result is reactive, the Red Cross may contact you to request additional information and conduct further testing as part of a research study.”

Noted Mr. Rust to this author in a follow-up email: “I have not nor will not get the vaccine.” Mr. Rust printed out this paper and “took it with me to my physician when I had my annual physical in June 2020. His answer, ‘Yes, you have had Covid.’ “ Mr. Rust added that his wife Nikki is “pretty sure” she had the virus after him.
- Jim Rust, Nebraska

Sick in October 2019, also positive for ABs ….
I caught Covid 19 in October 2019. Went to donate blood in May or June of 2020 and blood was rejected at that time because I had Covid antibodies. (This was before they changed and accepted Covid positive blood). When they first announced Covid, I told my family I had all those symptoms when I was sick in October. I swore that’s what I had. It kicked my butt, was in bed for a week with an elephant sitting on my chest, off & on fever with muscle aches. At the time I thought it was the flu. It wasn’t until I went to donate blood that I put 2+2 together and it equaled Covid.
- Gene Tarlton

Author’s note: Regarding the above dispatch, it should be noted the Red Cross did not begin screening blood for antibodies until June 15, 2020. (It’s crossed my mind that the Red Cross’s decision to not screen for Covid antibodies until mid-June could have been part of a larger effort to conceal evidence of early spread.) See also the intriguing dispatch of John Perry from South Carolina further below.

NY City Trade Show in October 2019 …
I now bitterly regret not getting an antibody test to prove or disprove this; although I have not officially tested positive for Covid-19 during the entire pandemic. On October 24th, 2019 I went to the Javits Center in New York City for a trade show … with a friend from the Philippines who's an engineer … She later told me that she had visited and seen several manufacturers from mainland China and she found that notable for some reason … By Monday October 28th at 4:30 a.m., I woke up with vomiting and diarrhea, a 101 fever, chills that were like seizures, brain fog, and I felt like I had been one round with Mike Tyson and KO'd. … I kept everybody away from me and I have no idea what I had but it was not like any food poisoning I've ever had and not like any stomach flu I'd ever had. I was sorry I hadn't scheduled a colonoscopy. I actually wondered if this could kill me and then I prayed …

Strange pulmonary infection in October …
I spent six days in the hospital in October 2019. I kept being told, "You are being treated for pneumonia but you don't have pneumonia." My GP said that there was a "strange" pulmonary infection going on.

Possible early outbreak in October at UC Berkley? …
I was on a flight to Frankfurt from San Francisco on October 10, 2019. I was sitting next to a German who’d been attending a conference at UC Berkeley. He said he had been sick for a while and was pretty sick then too. As it happens, I was wearing an N-100 mask just so that I wouldn't catch the flu because I had 10 days in Berlin and didn't really want to spend five of them sick. So I didn't catch anything from him but he seemed to be experiencing what we now know as Covid and he told me how long he had been sick (2 weeks) which is also consistent with Covid, much longer than ordinary flu. He said he was getting better and then he got worse again so again it sounds like Covid. I mention this in case you find that there was a cluster of cases at UC Berkeley in October 2019.

‘Wuhan Flu in Texas ….
My wife had the Wuhan Flu the second week of November, 2019.  I was out of town for that week, but when I got home she told me that she had been sicker that she’d ever been in her life.  As we learned about the symptoms in early 2020, we came to the conclusion that what she had had was Covid … (Also) I talked with one guy whose whole construction crew had it in September of 2019, and none of them knew what they had. Best of luck … as this needs to be exposed, and the corruption at the CDC also needs to be investigated.

Covid spreads through a Hollywood TV set?
I work on a television show (not named by request). January of 2020, we were preparing for shooting an episode at the Millennium Biltmore hotel in Downtown LA, which was also hosting a large celebration for the Chinese New Year around the same time.  Most of the crew came down with… something. Multiple complaints of fever, chills… the worst cold/ flu people said they’d had in a long time, if not ever.

The rumor was that anyone who was working on the prep crews at the Biltmore was as sick as a dog and that whatever they were coming down with had been courtesy of the people flying in from China to attend the big New Year celebration at the hotel. 

I’m prone to respiratory infections so of course I ended up catching this one, too. My husband- who works on the same show - also caught it. He’s usually able to dodge almost any cold or flu, but not this one. My daughter-  2 at the time - also caught the bug.

No one landed in the hospital; everyone was just really ill for a while. My sickness lasted two or three weeks. Dry cough that never ended and lingered a few weeks more. I tested for flu early February, but that test was negative. I took a serology test in April, when they were first available. It was negative, but I’ve heard that those tests weren’t worth much. I still think I had it.

Please do not use my name or the name of my show. If I’m identified, we could both very well lose our livelihoods, our entire careers. I'm one thing, but my husband is another ….

One Washington town badly impacted, neighboring town is not …
I live in Goldendale, Washington.  I know an entire family who were laid out at Christmas 2019. One child progressed to pneumonia in lungs. Dad never usually gets sick.  I think there were several others in town too. Then when the main wave came (in March), the town north of us, Yakima, was significantly affected. They also have a lot of migrant labor unlike our town.  This perhaps suggests that (our residents) had more antibodies?

Strange events on a flight from China …
My name is Mike X and I was in Manilla, Philippines from Nov. 8 - Nov 14 of 2019.  My flight back connected through Guangzhou, China and I had a 5-hour layover … When I boarded the flight, my seat was right next to the bathroom.  I could see each and every person who went in.  At 10,000 feet, they made the announcement we’re all familiar with that you can now get out of your seat and stretch or go to the bathroom.  The first person went in, exited and immediately a stewardess goes in with her mask on and plastic gloves and sprays everything.  The toilet seat, the sink, the floor, and even the mirror and wipes it all down, and then lets the next person in.  After the next person, she repeats the whole process.  This went on for the ENTIRE 11-HOUR FLIGHT TO JFK!!!!   I was thinking to myself, what the hell is going on?  Does Air China really think I'm going to be impressed with this and choose to fly Air China in the future because they are so clean aware? 

Anyway, our whole family got sick in December and didn't really think much of it.  But when the pandemic broke out and they kept pushing the narrative that it was likely started in January of 2020, I was like bullshit, the Chinese knew about it in November 'cause that's why they sprayed everything down on that flight to JFK.

Sicker than ever been in Portland …
At the end of November/first of December 2019 while living in Portland, I became very ill. As many others have stated, I was sicker than I've ever been … My symptoms included GI issues, achiness, extreme weakness and exhaustion--so much so that I could not get off the sofa to use the restroom without the help of my husband; a nonstop, runny nose; loss of smell, taste, and appetite (I lost 12 pounds in a 2-week period); a chronic cough that developed into pneumonia and lasted for weeks; and finally, vertigo (which I've never experienced in what was then 57 years of life).  

I did request to be tested for antibodies once tests were developed, but my doctor declined because he did not feel the tests available at that time were consistently accurate.  He did finally test me much later, in April 2021, which showed no evidence of antibodies.  He opined that a negative result did not mean that I hadn't had Covid, but more likely was because there were no antibodies left in my blood …  as the length of time between infection and testing (was so long).

April 2019 case in Vegas?
I want you to know that I 100% had Covid in April of 2019. Please look into even earlier cases than November of 2019. I was living in Las Vegas and had rarely ever gotten sick even so much as a cold in 20 years. This knocked me silly and lasted 3 months. I had all the classic symptoms such as that horrible dry cough, fever, total aches and pain, loss of appetite, loss of taste and smell, lost 20 pounds easy, weakness like you wouldn’t believe. I have never been floored by anything like this my entire life and I’m now in my early 60’s … I finally recovered but it was hell to get to that point. I have never taken the jab and truly believe I must have super antibodies now. All this time I have doubted the narrative of Covid started in early 2020 or even in the fall of 2019. I know I had it. Vegas is a breeding ground for such a thing as the international travel here is so huge. I could have got it at any casino or place where lots of people frequent. Please dig even further into this mystery.

Another Vegas anecdote …. 
I had Covid in December 2019. I went on a trip to Vegas for Hazmat training. Coming back through Chicago I had a lay-over for about 4 hours. Once home in Virginia I’m pretty sure I had it.

And another … 
My husband and I both had Covid in late November 2019 after a week vacation in Las Vegas. A large portion of Vegas visitors are from China. And on our plane ride back to Milwaukee, there were a lot of people coughing. Neither of us went to the doctor because we just thought it was flu. Covid was not a thing yet. But as the symptoms started to come up I realized I had almost all of them, including the weird ones like pinkeye. I still don’t have 100% of my sense of smell back. I have not been vaccinated and have not been reinfected.

Nurse ‘had Covid before Covid existed’…. 
I believe I was infected with Covid in November 2019 or December 2019. I am a registered nurse and I was working as an RN at an inner-city hospital in Phoenix, Arizona with a huge number of homeless people.  I have no respiratory history but for several days I could barely breathe. I did several tele-health appointments, got put on steroids and antibiotics but I nearly called 911 a couple of times because I simply could not breathe. Eventually I got better but it did drag on …Today, I have never gotten Covid or anything like it sense .. I never received the vaccine and I still work as a registered nurse … I’ve often told people that I got Covid before Covid existed. I’ve never had my antibodies tested.

Cough would not go away ….
Around Thanksgiving 2019, I came down with cold and flu symptoms …. But this time, and for the first time in my 50 years at that time, the cough wasn't going away. Coworkers were concerned. The cough continued into Christmas, New Years, and finally cleared in January.  I had never experienced anything like that before.

Gets sick after flying with people from Wuhan …
I actually flew to Israel with consultants from Wuhan in late October. Then returned to the US on Nov 14, 2019 flying through Newark NJ. Had Wuhan people on that flight.  Was sick around 15 or 16 November, went to doctor several times before thanksgiving and after.  The doctor could not figure out what was going on.  Every symptom matches common Covid symptoms … I have no test to prove I had it in November 2019 because they weren’t out then, but I tested negative for flu and the doctor was about to put me in hospital after first week and oxygen levels dropping. 

After co-worker returns from France, outbreak runs through office ….
It spread through our office in November of 2019.  A young man in his 30's came back from France and was very sick; was hospitalized with what we thought was pneumonia.  He returned to the office still coughing when he got out of the hospital, and many of us also got sick.  My symptoms were mild; however, I did have COVID long issues for a little over a year. 

Mother convinced virus was spreading in Vietnam in September 2019 ….
In September of 2019, our family traveled to Saigon (HCMC), Viet Nam to complete the adoption of our daughter.  On the trip to Saigon, I didn't notice much illness.  However, within a week, my oldest daughter became very sick with an upper respiratory infection that was highly contagious and started with a strong burning in her throat before any nasal drainage began, and was very tired.  She became sick during her return trip to Hawaii.  My husband and our other three kids had to return home and leave our new daughter and me back in Viet Nam.

After the first week in Saigon, my newly adopted daughter and I flew aboard Viet Nam Airlines to Hanoi.  We were in the first class cabin of an older plane. The man who was seated in front of me was extremely sick with an upper respiratory illness … He struggled to breathe without violently coughing.  I knew that I would probably get sick, and I absolutely did!  The next morning, I woke up with a burning throat and was tired.  I went to the International Clinic where a Canadian doctor prescribed Augmentin, which helped, but it did not wipe out the illness.  There were complications with the adoption paperwork.  So, I had to stay in Vietnam for another week (3 weeks total). 

We also flew to Hawaii for a three-day layover, before completing the trip back to Oklahoma.  During our flight from Vietnam to Japan, there were many people on the plane who were sick like me.  During our flight from Japan to Hawaii, there were also many sick, but not as many as the trip from Hanoi.  While I was in Hanoi (for 2 of the total 3 weeks), many people were sick.  Saigon really didn't have much illness.  When we traveled to La Gi and Mui Ne', Vietnam, no one was sick.  The majority of the illness was in Hanoi. 

After Covid "officially" entered the US, and I started to learn about it, I was convinced that I had the early form of Covid when I was in Vietnam, and that my older daughter also picked it up during her flight from Vietnam to Hawaii. 

All of this is to tell you that I think that Hanoi was an early "hot spot" that you should investigate.  You might contact the International Clinic in Hanoi, too.  They should be able to report a huge spike in upper respiratory illnesses with the same symptoms … It was pretty easy to see that the illness simply moved from China to Hanoi, and further down to Saigon.

…. The story "that's yet to be told" will be the manipulation of the narrative, in my humble opinion.  Why?  Who benefits?  Why was it necessary to manage the timing?  Was it just about the election?  What else is being managed on this continuum?

Symptoms the like we’d never experienced before ….
I and a few of my work colleagues for an aerospace company were all down the beginning of the year (2020)  with severe “flu-like” symptoms of the likes we’ve never experienced before. It wiped us out for two weeks and a very debilitating weakness, with fever and shortness of breath. We all survived, but it kept spreading everywhere. Then in March our company announced a “shut down.”

El Segundo hit hard …
I live in Los Angeles and my work then was located in El Segundo, California. It appears this enigmatic “flu” spread rapidly in that area since El Segundo hires prominent expatriates from Asian countries, namely China and nearby countries, due to their preference in STEM careers. Like most people who are homesick, it stands to reason they would travel back home … When they returned, they were very ill and that’s how my boss got it, then all of his subordinates.

We/I  braved two weeks, bed-ridden, nearly dead with the classic Covid strep throat like symptoms, no taste, etc. My boss, who rarely leaves work even with a blistering fever, finally was winded by the terrible onslaught, followed by us … These anecdotes are very important since they shed light on spread and the time lines. 

Another possible fall case …
I became very ill in the Fall of 2019, this lasted thru December 2019 and into January 2020. I was being treated at UF Health North Jacksonville, Florida. The last comments from my PC Physician at the time was “We don’t know what’s wrong.” My symptoms were lung/bronchial infection, fever, chills, muscle ache, etc. I have always been in good shape and it had been years since any flu symptoms.

Sick near nursing home that was epicenter of first big publicized outbreak ….
I had my first symptoms on Dec 16, 2019. Eventually my whole family of four went through it. We had all recovered by mid January 2020.

We live near Seattle, in the same town where the first U.S. deaths were originally reported (Kirkland) a few weeks later. You may recall the Life Care nursing home deaths -- it's a short drive away from where we live. Those deaths happened some weeks after my family had already recovered.

Although we do not have any connection to that nursing home … I wouldn't be too surprised if it turned out we were in the chain of transmission that ultimately lead to that place, because of its extreme geographic proximity. I knew from experience what a typical flu felt like, and this was different … My symptoms were as if taken from a Covid (alpha) textbook.

I have very detailed information about the dates of our illnesses, as well as who and under what circumstances I got it from: a Chinese co-worker of mine at the time, who had recently come back from his Thanksgiving break and had told us a week or so earlier that he was pretty sick.

After it dawned on me that this must have been Covid, we wound up asking 3 doctors in the months that followed. At first, we were told it was impossible to confirm, since at that time, antibody tests were not available yet (to us at least), and we wouldn't have qualified for a PCR test either, because (a) we were not dying and (b) we had already recovered several weeks earlier.

Later, when antibody tests became more widely available, two other doctors we asked seemed to believe in the plausibility of our Covid story, but simply discouraged us from an antibody test because (a) it may have been too late and (b) they were worried we'd stop worrying about getting reinfected.

Author’s note: This article published by The Seattle Times on May 1, 2020 suggests that access to antibody tests in the early weeks of the pandemic may have been “throttled.” I think this possibility deserves more serious investigative attention. The article, in my opinion, also shows how many tests not authorized or approved by the FDA have been discredited as “garbage” tests, etc. I think both narratives perhaps support an intentional effort to conceal evidence of early spread.

Possible case from March 2019 …
My friend, Blake, was living in Brooklyn in March 2019 when he developed a severe pneumonia. He was hospitalized at NYU Langone and treated with antibiotics and I believe steroids and oxygen. The physicians were puzzled by the unusual appearance of his chest X-ray. He ultimately was discharged and slowly recovered at home. In the summer of 2021 he was contacted by NYU who had kept a sample of his blood on file. NYU told him the blood tested positive for Covid.

I was intrigued by Blake’s story since I had been ill at about the same time as him. Only I had marked swelling of my ankle and knee joints, elevated liver enzymes and multiple embolic phenomena in my fingers. The illness lasted several weeks and then slowly resolved. I never got Covid when the pandemic happened and had multiple negative tests. When Blake told me about the NYU call in the summer of 2021, I decided to take the T-detect test which came back positive for Covid-activated T cells. So I had had Covid 19 sometime in the past but no antibodies in 2020 or 2021.I am convinced that Covid was in the US in early 2019. 

Mayor says ‘flu epidemic’ went through county in Nov., Dec. 2019 …
I was the County Mayor in Stewart County, Tennessee in 2019.  My symptoms were only that I was very weak. I was in bed 20 hours a day. Got up only to eat. My wife had it, too in January 2020. She had worse symptoms. My 21 year old son had it for, like, one day. Very slight symptoms. This flu epidemic went through our whole county in November and December 2019. 100 miles NW of Nashville. Very rural, only 13,500 people. You are right about when it first swept the nation.

Most brutal flu I’ve ever had …
I was hit with the most brutal flu I've ever had in late November, 2019.  It came on very hard and fast.  I felt fine one afternoon and 4 hours later I couldn’t even swallow as my throat had swollen almost to closure, and was extremely painful.  I never experienced anything like that before .. A nasty fever, shivering chills, muscle pains and cough followed in that order, all coming in waves over the following days and taking about a week to peak altogether.

I was very weak and lethargic through that whole period.  All symptoms were at least 25% worse than what I would call a typical flu, and about 50% longer lasting  … Even now, almost three years later, when I swallow I can still feel the damaged tissue in my throat wrought by the virus.  Also, I do believe my lung capacity was impacted and may still be an issue.  At one point during the worst of it I remember thinking "how much of this can my body take?" 

In addition, I wound up giving it to a co-worker (I think), and she told me that it was also one of the worst flus she had ever had and with a very similar trajectory. I am convinced it was Covid because of the permanent tissue damage to my throat, the severity of the symptoms, and their unusually long duration.

I live in Vancouver BC, and I have heard a similar story from at least one other person besides the co-worker I mentioned.

Possible Covid puts grandmother in hospital for 10 days ….
On the 3rd of November 2019, I traveled from North Carolina to Southern California for the birth of my granddaughter. I thought I might have picked up a sinus infection, which continued into a dry cough with shortness of breath and inability to carry on a conversation. I headed home 11 days later; got to north Carolina, exited the plane and made my way to my car. While driving home, I got chills, chattering teeth unproductive cough, climbed into bed , sweats, chills, fever.  (Several days later) I went to hospital and was hospitalized for 10 days with pneumonia, acute renal distress. The doctor said, “You should not be as sick as you are, the pneumonia is not that bad.” It took til March to get my strength back … When they first announced Covid and lockdowns, everyone who knew me said that's what I probably had.

Another town, another ‘massive outbreak’ …
Our community (in Maryland) had a massive outbreak of what looked like, in hindsight, Covid in November and December 2019. I personally believe I had it on the first week of January 2020. Thank you for doing this research for the public good.

School suffers outbreak ….
My wife and I both believe that we had Sars Cov2 as of 1/30/20, along with most of our children's parochial K-8 school during that time. We did not have antibody evidence, but my wife had been treated for consistent respiratory symptoms for approximately four months following.

China, China, China …
I returned from an assignment in China December 2019. I was in Shanghai, Nantong and stayed a couple of days in Singapore. Returned with the China virus.

September possibility …
I think I had Covid-19 at the end September 2019. I’m pretty sure I contracted it in my dentist office, as one of the receptionist was very sick. My symptoms were exactly as described by everyone at the time of the pandemic. I went to the doctor on Day 3 and was given steroids and antibiotics. This illness took me about six weeks to get over completely.

Can’t remember walking the dogs ….
I had it (BAD) in January 2020.   I live in Erie, Pennsylvania and I was extremely ill for 15 days in the middle of January 2020.   I think I also suffered from "Long Covid.”   Smelling phantom odors, short term memory issues, aching body joints, extreme fatigue,  amongst other things.  Looking back, the entire time I was sick is one big blur.  I can barely recall anything from that period of time.  (“Did you eat, Dan?  Did you take your dogs to the park?”  They have a dog door and can go outside......but I don't remember ever taking them "outside" for a walk.) 

Thinks she got it from college students …
In the days following Thanksgiving 2019, I got sick. At the time, I worked at a university in my city so it was no real surprise to me that I got sick. It started with lots of coughing but I also had a fever. After a few days, the coughing worsened and it settled in my lungs so I assumed it was bronchitis. Throughout the duration, I was very fatigued and that took weeks from which to fully recover. I have never been that sick. When I mentioned this illness to my doctor, she told me that testing for antibodies is a waste of money because testing is so unreliable and may not even show anything. After that, I have not had Covid any time after the lockdowns first began.

Possible deaths from Covid?

A high school friend/classmate died in his sleep alone at home, fighting a flu bug, January 2019. I wondered about his death. I am submitting this to you in case you start seeing a trend with other deaths, etc.

Location: Chicago. My girlfriend’s mother passed away October of 2019 due to natural causes. Following the funeral, several elderly relatives became ill with Covid-like symptoms, which lasted for months. They all survived.

(A friend in Las Vegas) went to the hospital ER in Dec. 2019, if memory is correct on Christmas Eve, sent home, then later returned to ER, never to go home again. Short version: pneumonia, ventilator, collapsed lung, couldn’t breath and joined Jesus in heaven about six weeks later. Great guy, had a heart of gold. The “doctors” didn’t have a clue and most don’t know their ass from a hole in the ground, they only know what the AMA and Pharma tells them to say.

Possible case in mid-2019 …
My girlfriend and I both believe we had Covid in mid 2019. She lost her taste/ smell was very sick. I caught it after that. Both went to the doctor and were given normal stuff inhalers etc. Both powered through it and went in with our lives. Neither of us have been tested. We live in mid-Maine.

Author’s note: The below report is significant to this author as it’s one of the rare examples I’ve found where state health officials actually investigated the possibility “early spread” was occurring. The other example I’ve found was in Washington state, where state and local health officials investigated two “probable” early cases, but eschewed investigations into many other possible cases from the same time period. While the below dispatch suggests some kind of investigation was being performed by health officials in South Carolina and North Carolina, I’ve seen no article that discusses the findings of this possible investigation.

Tests positive for antibodies, Dept. of Health investigated … 
My name is John Perry. I live in South Carolina and am now retired but ... in early January of 2020 I was working a project (I was Director of Southeast Ops for NACE Construction out of Michigan) working a project in Miller Creek, NC. (A Mavis Tire Store)

On Day 4, a Thursday, I began feeling badly, felt like something was coming-on, instinctively knew that whatever it was it was coming hard and fast.  That night in the hotel the fever began to set-in.  By Friday morning I was struggling, so I jumped in the car and headed-home ... a four-hour drive. It was a struggle, I honestly thought I wasn't going-to make it at one point.  Had never in my life been hit so hard and so fast with what I thought was probably a common flu bug ... but I had already gotten my yearly flu shot the October before.

Upon my arrival, my wife met me at the door, told me I looked like death warmed-over and shuffled-me-off to bed. She took my temperature  .... it was 102.7°.

It was two weeks before I could get out of bed, other than going to the bathroom and that wasn't always a successful effort. I lost 25 pounds.  Felt like I had been rode hard and put-up wet.  It took me a month before I was back to normal .... mid February. 

So here's the couple two or three kickers:

I was tested for antibodies in March of 2020 at the behest of my Internist just to see if their "experimental test" as he called-it, would work on me given that he was sure I had endured the Covid in January given my symptoms.  I tested positive in March even though at the time they were not sure the antibodies remained in your system more than thirty days.

That's when I got the call.

So around that time I get a call from DHEC (State Dept. of Health) here in SC asking about my experience ... asking if I had been vaccinated (I have not and will not) and asking about something they noticed in my records about January of 2020.  (Come to find out later my internist had entered that first case into some kind of Covid Data Base.)  The NP who called me asked a lot of questions about where I was when I caught that first case of Covid (of mine) and I told her, Miller Creek, NC.

The next day I got a call from someone at the DHEC equivalent in NC, another nurse doing phone interviews, and I told her the Miller Creek details ... she was very personable, very interested, very detailed (which I found sort of odd) and very thorough.  In the end I asked her what this was all about and was surprised when she answered me, and I paraphrase here but ... She said they were tracing-back the NC outbreak possibly to Boone, NC and she even went as far as to tell me a couple of the female U.S. ski team members had been training in China but had returned in time for Christmas (of 2019) and had gone to various places ... two of them to Boone, just a few miles away from Miller's Creek.  So I asked her if there were verifiable cases in Boone of 2019 and she said, “Maybe; who knows? we'll see" and she thanked-me for my time and said a nice goodbye. 

Bingo.

Covid was here in 2019 ... there is no doubt about it.  My buddy in SE Asia was talking about it in 2019 but I failed to pay attention really, it was 1,000s of miles away.  When it hit me in a little hamlet outside of Boone, NC in January of 2020 I didn't put 2+2 together until much later.  He and I have laughed about it since. - John Perry, Gilbert SC

Italy vacation produces possible Covid cases …
My sister and brother-in-law went to Italy in November of 2019. They came back with all the Covid symptoms. My sister said she knows she had it and that's what it was for both of them. I found your info via Citizen Free Press who linked to your essay "Covid was spreading across U.S. in 2019".  I fully believe this to be true. 

We beat the rush and had Covid early …
I work in Massachusetts for a company that sources all of its products from China. We routinely had Product Managers, Supply Chain folks and upper management traveling to all of the major manufacturing cities in China for supplier meetings. In the first week of January 2020 I took notice of a person in our supply chain group who was particularly ill. She was too ill to be at work, hacking and barely breathing, but still came in for several days.  Other people were also ill, either in or out of the office. Then, by around Jan 10th I developed the worst flu of my entire life.

It knocked me out nearly dead for three days. Breathing felt like it was through a coffee-stirrer. I laid awake at night getting little sips of air, afraid that if I fall asleep I might not wake up.  I had full sense of taste and smell, but otherwise it was unlike any other cold or flu I'd experienced before.  It broke after 3-4 days and I was able to return to work where I learned that several others had been out sick too.  So when the media news broke mid-January about a possible new flu strain, the running joke in the workplace was to say say, "yeah, I had that last week."

Chinese connection again?
I am a travel agent and I had some clients come back from China the last week of December  2019. The lady had been in Guangzhou where her  Chinese family lives.  I am a person who rarely gets sick, not even with the flu but Jan 3, 2020 I became unusually very sick, and was unable to get out of bed for about 4 days.  This was different. It started with cold chills and dry heaving, much like stomach flu or food poising, but it was much worse.   I was negative for Covid then and also my antibody test came back as negative. They said that maybe  the antibodies did not last that long.  

Auction customers leave Christmas Covid behind ….
I believe my husband had Covid. His symptoms started 12-21-2019, mine 12-24-2019.  We live in Centerville, Indiana.  We own an auction gallery,  and it seemed to have "gone around" among our customers over that holiday break.  

More holiday non-cheer …
I also had COVID in 2019. I had it sometime between Thanksgiving and Christmas. I was incredibly sick, had no taste, no smell, all the symptoms, but thought it was a severe flu until I learned what COVID was when the first news came out some months later. Until reading this article I wasn't aware that my experience was unusual. I live in NJ (Manahawkin at the time).

Another November case in NY ….
I'm sure I had it third week  of 11/19 and lasted almost 3 weeks. It was a flu; rather nasty, but no panic, just kept going.  I live in Cortland County, New Gulag[York]. A suggestion if I may: Perhaps you would find it beneficial to converse with some Amish folk regarding the scam; no media, no fear.

Wuhan neighbor infects Clearwater neighbor?

My neighbor had just come home from Wuhan in November or December 2019.  My family got it. We only sent my son to the doctor. He tested negative for flu and cold. We had symptoms that resembled Codie and were all sick for a couple of weeks (not like us). This was in Clearwater, Florida. I also have a lot of friends in the area who go to China regularly because of Amazon businesses.

China exposure in September …
I was in China in September 2019. When I got home to California, I was sick as a dog for 3 weeks. I just figured it was the flu or something. I didn't need to go to the doctor for the flu I just lived through it. My passport will prove I was there at the time mentioned and I could get a titers test done for Covid. I never thought I needed one and since then figured I was the one who may have infected many on the West Coast with Covid.  My symptoms were very Covid-like.

Author’s note: This is getting very long, so I’ll go ahead and end here. I’ll add some more testimonials in the Reader Comment section. Also, additional testimonials can be read in the Comment Section of my original story.  I appreciate everyone who contacted me. I also hope many new readers choose to subscribe and we can share comments in the future.

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