Autopsy reveals first COVID-19 death in the US was THREE weeks earlier than thought and in California, NOT Washington state - radically altering the timeline of the virus in the States

The first coroanvirus death in the United States was three weeks earlier than originally believed, new autopsy results show. 

Santa Clara Medical Examiner-Coroner says it has identified three individuals who died with COVID-19, including one victim who passed away on February 6. 

Washington's first deaths were then reported on February 29 after two people - one who was a resident at a nursing home - died in the same Seattle hospital. 

The new development also means the first fatality in Santa Clara, which had been recorded as Azar Ahrabi, 68, on March 9, was in fact more than a month earlier. 

The number of statewide cases surged following an outbreak at the Life Care Center nursing home facility in the Seattle suburb of Kirkland. Washington's first deaths were reported on February 29 after two people - one who was a resident at the nursing home - died 

Jeff Duchin, Health Officer, Public Health for Seattle and King County speaks following the death of a a King County, Washington resident due to COVID-19 on February 29, marking the first death on US soil. Santa Clara Medical Examiner-Coroner says it has identified three individuals who died with COVID-19 including one victim who passed away on February 6

The number of statewide cases surged following an outbreak at the Life Care Center nursing home facility in the Seattle suburb of Kirkland. 

But the coroner is Santa Clara now says: 'The Medical Examiner-Coroner performed autopsies on two individuals who died at home on February 6, 2020 and February 17, 2020. 

'Samples from the two individuals were sent to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Today, the Medical Examiner-Coroner received confirmation from the CDC that tissue samples from both cases are positive for SARS-CoV-2 (the virus that causes COVID-19).

'Additionally, the Medical Examiner-Coroner has also confirmed that an individual who died in the county on March 6 died of COVID-19.'

They died at home 'during a time when very limited testing was available only through the CDC', the coroner added. 

The death toll in the U.S. stood at more than 45,000 Tuesday evening — the highest in the world — with more than 820,000 confirmed infections. 

But the true figures are believed to be much higher, in part because of limited testing and difficulties in counting the dead.   

Dr. Jeffrey V. Smith, the Santa Clara county executive, said the deaths 'reveal that the virus was around for a long time'. He added: 'It was probably around unrecognized for quite some time.' 

Dr. Sara Cody, Health Officer and Director, County of Santa Clara Public Health Department speaks during a press conference about what was thought at the time to be the third confirmed cases of COVID-19, in Santa Clara on February 28

Healthcare workers transport a patient on a stretcher into an ambulance at Life Care Center of Kirkland in Kirkland, Washington on February 29

All 50 states in the US have now reported deaths due to coronavirus after Wyoming announced its first fatality earlier this month. 

Washington was the epicenter of the country's initial outbreak. 

It had recorded the first known coronavirus case in the US and also the first few deaths of the pandemic before it started spreading rapidly across the country. 

At one point, Washington had recorded 37 of the country's first 50 fatal outbreaks.  

The state recorded its first known coronavirus case - and the first in the US - on January 21 after a patient returned from Wuhan, China where the global outbreak initially started.  

Following the outbreak, the state enforced strict social distancing measures by banning large gatherings in late February and closing schools in early March.