HOBOKEN, NJ - OCTOBER 5: People walk through the park on Pier A as the sun sets on lower Manhattan and One World Trade Center in New York City on October 5, 2020 in Hoboken, New Jersey. (Photo by Gary Hershorn/Getty Images) LOS ANGELES - Most COVID-19 patients in Southern California during the early months of the pandemic appear to have been infected by a variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus introduced to the region from New York state via Europe, not directly from China, where the virus was first detected, according to a study released Wednesday by Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.The findings were based on a genetic analysis of the virus found in tissue samples taken from 192 patients diagnosed with COVID-19 at Cedars-Sinai.Investigators said they.