來源：經濟日報
美國北加州聖克拉拉縣（Santa Clara）官員21日宣布，新的屍檢結果顯示，當地兩名居民在2月初和中旬死於新冠病毒，說明美國首例新冠肺炎死亡病例，比早前知道的要早23天。
New autopsy results showtwo Californians died ofnovel coronavirusin early and mid-February -- up to three weeks beforethe previously known first US death from the virus.
瀏覽器版本過低，暫不支持視頻播放
報導指出，這一新信息可能會將新冠病毒在美國傳播的時間線提前數周。
The new information may shift the timeline of the virus’s spread through the country weeks earlier than previously believed.
此前，美國疾病控制與預防中心（CDC）於2月29日報告美國本土首例新冠肺炎，死者是華盛頓州一名五十多歲的男子。
The United States' previously understood first coronavirus death happened on February 29 in Kirkland, Washington.
衛生官員：這可能只是「冰山一角」
聖克拉拉衛生部門主管薩拉·科迪（Sara Cody）稱，這兩名新冠肺炎患者分別於2月6日和2月17日死於家中。
Northern California's Santa Clara County announced the autopsy results Tuesday. The two were a 57-year-old woman who died in her home in the county February 6, and a 69-year-old man who died at home in the same county on February 17, officials said.
此外，還有一名3月6日去世的居民被確認死於新冠肺炎。
北加州聖塔克拉拉衛生部門主管薩拉·科迪（Sara Cody） 圖源：AP薩拉·科迪表示，「我們在一月和二月初沒有太多的檢測試劑盒可用，所以無法對需要的人檢測。驗屍官會遇到一些情況，然後質疑是否可能是傳染病，因此他們保留了樣品。最終的檢測結果顯示感染了新冠病毒。」
這三名患者都沒有出國到過疫情嚴重地區，因此都可能感染於社區傳播。
The three earlier Santa Clara County deaths were not associated with travel to highly infected areas.They are presumed to have contracted the virus in the community, said Dr. Sara Cody, the county’s chief medical officer.
薩拉·科迪稱：
"Each one ofthose deaths is probably the tip of an iceberg of unknown size."
這三個死亡病例中的每一個，都可能只是龐大未知的冰山的一角。
專家：有必要回溯1月和12月的美國病例
哈佛全球健康研究所主任阿希什·賈哈博士（Dr. Ashish K. Jha）接受CNN採訪時表示，這一發現非常重要（the finding was significant）。
"Somebody who died on February 6, they probably contracted that virus early to mid-January," Jha saidWednesday."It takes at least two to three weeks from the time you contract the virus and you die from it."
賈哈博士22日稱，「2月6日死亡的患者，有可能早在1月中旬就感染上了病毒。從感染病毒到死亡，期間需要2到3周時間。」
If they did not contract coronavirus through travel abroad, "that means there was community spread happening in California as early as mid-January, if not earlier than that," Jha said.
如果他們不是因為到過國外而感染病毒，「那就說明加州早在1月中旬，甚至更早，就開始出現社區傳播了。」
賈哈博士認為，美國有必要回溯1月甚至12月的病例，搞清楚該國到底最早什麼時候出現新冠病毒的。
"We really need to now go back, look at a lot more cases from January -- even December -- and try to sort out when did we first really encounter this virus in the United States," Jha said.
加州州長紐森（Gavin Newsom）
據報導，加州州長紐森（Gavin Newsom）22日稱，已下令加州各地衛生部門和驗屍官追查從去年12月以來的所有屍檢報告，調查其中是否存在新冠肺炎的死亡案例。
Gov. Gavin Newsom said Wednesday he’s requested that coroners review cases across the state as far back as December.
coroner /krn(r)/：驗屍官
紐森稱，「查明新冠何時在加州開始傳播，對於我們了解疫情非常重要，所有這些信息都要更為透明。」
During a press conference, Newsom revealed that the order is designed to 「dig even deeper」 into other deaths that could havebeenmissed, with the goal of helping to create an 「understanding of when this pandemic really started to impact Californians directly.」
紐森在新聞發布會上說，下達這一命令是為了「更深地挖掘」那些可能被忽略的死亡病例，目的是「弄明白這場大流行病是從什麼時候開始直接影響加州人民的。」