The first COVID-19 death in the United States may have occurred in California on February 6th, three weeks before the first death in Washington State was reported.

According to a statement issued by the Santa Clara County Department of Public Health on April 21, an autopsy confirmed that three people who died in Santa Clara County between February 6 and March 6 had died of COVID-19.

The updated statistics include two people who died at home and a third who did not specify the place of death. Previously, the county’s first COVID-19 death was believed to have occurred on March 9. The revised cause of death showed that this deadly disease took root in the United States earlier than previously thought. Similar reports have appeared elsewhere in recent weeks.

In late March, an unpeer-reviewed epidemiological study of the Lombardy region of northern Italy found that the virus may have been circulating there for more than a month before it was discovered. John Houghton, a climate scientist and senior member of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), died of COVID-19 on April 15 at the age of 88.

Horton was the editor-in-chief of the first three IPCC assessment reports (large-scale, influential studies summarizing the state of scientific knowledge of climate change), and together with former US Vice President Al Gore, he accepted the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize on behalf of the organization. Researchers who knew Horton praised his scientific rigor, leadership, and ability to connect with decision makers and the public.

After studying at Oxford University in England, Horton became a professor there in 1958. He is a pioneer in using emerging satellite technology to understand the earth system. From 1983 to 1991, as the director of the British Meteorological Service, he helped establish the Hadley Climate Science and Service Center in Exeter, and advised the British government on scientific consensus on climate change. Richard Betts, a climate scientist at the University of Exeter, who has co-authored several IPCC reports with Houghton, said: “He knows that only very clear and well-communicated scientific advice is available.

They can make real progress.” Bates said that Horton’s lifelong leadership in the field of climate change is an important legacy. “He is more than just a scientist. He is a passionate person.” As a devout Christian, Horton co-founded and led the John Ray Initiative, a charity in Gloucester, UK, which is dedicated to promoting environmental management through science and Christianity. In the early 2000s, he persuaded a famous American evangelical lobbyist that climate change is compatible with Christian thinking.

News Source : Nature