California Death Expands Timeline of Virus's Spread
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Late Edition Today, mostly cloudy skies, a bit of afternoon rain, high 50. Tonight, pe- riodic rain, chilly, low 46. Tomorrow, cloudy, rain showers, chilly, high 52. Weather map appears on Page A20. VOL. CLXIX . No. 58,672 © 2020 The New York Times Company NEW YORK, THURSDAY, APRIL 23, 2020 $3.00 CALIFORNIA DEATH EXPANDS TIMELINE OF VIRUS’S SPREAD Case Earlier in Year Raises Questions on Transmission and U.S. Policy This article is by Thomas Fuller, might have been spreading unde- Mike Baker, Shawn Hubler and tected. Sheri Fink. With little local testing through- SAN FRANCISCO — Weeks be- out February — in part because of fore there was evidence that the botched testing kits from the Cen- coronavirus was spreading in U.S. ters for Disease Control and Pre- communities, Patricia Dowd, a 57- vention, along with strict guide- year-old auditor at a Silicon Valley lines that limited who could get semiconductor manufacturer, de- tested — officials were not aware veloped flulike symptoms and of the virus transmitting locally in abruptly died in her San Jose the country until Feb. 26, in Solano kitchen, triggering a search for County, Calif. what had killed her. Flu tests were Previous cases had involved negative. The coroner was baf- people who had traveled to China, fled. It appeared that she had suf- where the outbreak began, or who fered a massive heart attack. had been exposed to someone But tissue samples from Ms. who was sick. But the Feb. 26 case Dowd, who died on Feb. 6, have in Solano County was of unex- now shown that she was infected plained origin. Similar cases of with the coronavirus — a startling community transmission were discovery that has rewritten the quickly identified in nearby Santa timeline of the virus’s early Clara County, which includes San spread in the United States and Jose, as well as in Washington suggests that the optimistic as- State and Oregon. sumptions that drove federal poli- The new test results made pub- REBECCA CONWAY FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES cies over the early weeks of the lic late Tuesday show that even In New Delhi, the government is distributing food every day, but people waiting in line have fought over a plate of rice and lentils. outbreak were misplaced. this timeline failed to reveal how The unexpected new finding long the virus had been circulat- makes clear that the virus was cir- ing. Ms. Dowd had not recently culating in the Bay Area of Califor- traveled outside the country, the Stand on Drug 135 Million Face Starvation. That Could Double. nia as early as January, even be- authorities said, and yet she died a fore the federal government be- full 20 days before the earliest re- Led to Ouster, ply routes — leaving millions to gan restricting travel from China corded case of community trans- By ABDI LATIF DAHIR worry how they will get enough to on Feb. 2. It also raises new ques- mission. Another previously un- Pandemic Moves Globe eat. tions about where else the virus Continued on Page A11 Official Asserts NAIROBI, Kenya — In the larg- Toward Unparalleled The coronavirus has sometimes est slum in Kenya’s capital, people been called an equalizer because desperate to eat set off a stam- it has sickened both rich and poor, pede during a recent giveaway of Crisis of Hunger By MICHAEL D. SHEAR but when it comes to food, the Infection Turns flour and cooking oil, leaving and MAGGIE HABERMAN commonality ends. It is poor peo- scores injured and two people ple, including large segments of WASHINGTON — The official dead. Pauline Karushi, who lost her job poorer nations, who are now going Factory Towns who led the federal agency in- In India, thousands of workers at a jewelry business in Nairobi, hungry and facing the prospect of volved in developing a coro- are lining up twice a day for bread and lives in two rooms with her starving. Into Hot Zones navirus vaccine said on Wednes- and fried vegetables to keep child and four other relatives. “The coronavirus has been any- day that he was removed from his hunger at bay. “That means not eating much.” thing but a great equalizer,” said post after he pressed for rigorous And across Colombia, poor The coronavirus pandemic has Asha Jaffar, a volunteer who By DIONNE SEARCEY vetting of hydroxychloroquine, an households are hanging red cloth- brought hunger to millions of peo- brought food to families in the anti-malaria drug embraced by As soon as she heard about a ing and flags from their windows ple around the world. National Nairobi slum of Kibera after the cluster of coronavirus cases at the President Trump as a coronavirus and balconies as a sign that they lockdowns and social distancing fatal stampede. “It’s been the treatment, and that the adminis- Tyson pork-processing plant on are hungry. measures are drying up work and great revealer, pulling the curtain the edge of Columbus Junction, tration had put “politics and JUSTIN SULLIVAN/GETTY IMAGES “We don’t have any money, and incomes, and are likely to disrupt back on the class divide and ex- cronyism ahead of science.” Iowa, Cindy Johnston felt a ripple now we need to survive,” said agricultural production and sup- Continued on Page A6 effect through her small commu- Chase has handed out $14 bil- Rick Bright was abruptly dis- nity along the Iowa River. lion through the relief program. missed this week as the director of Ms. Johnston, who manages a the Department of Health and Hu- Dairy Sweet burgers and ice man Services’ Biomedical Ad- cream shack, sent home four vanced Research and Develop- teenage employees because their Banks Steered ment Authority, or BARDA, and parents work at the Tyson plant. removed as the deputy assistant Parents of other teenage workers Richest Clients secretary for preparedness and were too afraid of potential infec- response. He was given a nar- tion to let their children report to rower job at the National Insti- work at Dairy Sweet. Then, she To Federal Aid tutes of Health. learned of the death of an employ- In a scorching statement, Dr. ee at the Tyson plant; it was the Bright, who received a Ph.D. in father of a classmate of her son. By EMILY FLITTER immunology and molecular “I’ve lived in this community all and STACY COWLEY pathogenesis from Emory Uni- my life, and I’ve never seen it so The federal government’s $349 versity, assailed the leadership at scared,” said Ms. Johnston, who is billion aid program for small busi- the health department, saying he 52, nearly the same age as the fa- nesses devastated by the coro- was pressured to direct money to- ther who died. navirus pandemic was advertised ward hydroxychloroquine, one of Across the country, some big as first-come, first-served. As several “potentially dangerous cities on the coasts are starting to many business owners found out, drugs promoted by those with po- experience a leveling off of it was anything but. litical connections” and repeat- Covid-19 cases, but a staggering That’s because some of the na- edly described by the president as number of small Midwestern tion’s biggest banks, including JP- a potential “game changer” in the towns anchored by meatpacking Morgan Chase, Citibank and U.S. fight against the virus. plants and other factories are Bank, prioritized the applications “I believe this transfer was in finding themselves as new hot of their wealthiest clients before response to my insistence that the spots of the virus. turning to other loan seekers, ac- government invest the billions of The new cases are worrying be- cording to half a dozen bank em- Continued on Page A9 cause many officials are contem- ployees and financial industry ex- ADAM DEAN FOR THE NEW YORK TIMES plating reopening the nation’s ecutives who spoke on the condi- Protected, They Serve businesses. The outbreaks are tion of anonymity because they TRADEOFF Officials must decide now raising the prospect of a new were not authorized to discuss the how many deaths are acceptable Buddhist monks from Wat Matchanthikaram, a temple in Bangkok, wore masks and face shields spread in less populous communi- banks’ operations. to reopen the country. PAGE A13 on Wednesday to guard against the spread of the coronavirus on their rounds to receive alms. ties in the middle of the country Customers of Citi’s private and complicating these company bank, where the minimum ac- towns’ debates over when to re- count size is $25 million, didn’t start public life. have to use an online portal to ap- The Social Distancing Origin Story: It Starts in the Middle Ages Tyson Foods closed the plant in ply for a loan; they could simply Columbus Junction earlier this submit paperwork to their banker, work and school the next time the How that idea — born out of a month. The company announced who would put in an application on Wednesday that it was closing a By ERIC LIPTON country was hit by a deadly pan- request by President George W. their behalf. At Chase, the nation’s A High School Project plant in Logansport, Ind., as well and JENNIFER STEINHAUER demic. Bush to ensure the nation was bet- largest bank, nearly all private When they presented their plan Advanced the Idea ter prepared for the next conta- as a large pork-processing plant in and commercial banking clients WASHINGTON — Fourteen not long after, it was met with gious disease outbreak — became Waterloo, Iowa, after calls from who applied for a small business years ago, two federal govern- skepticism and a degree of the heart of the national playbook public officials to shutter the facili- loan got one, whereas only one out ment doctors, Richard Hatchett ridicule by senior officials, who for responding to a pandemic is ty amid a growing outbreak.