Coronavirus timeline takes a twist after early case identified in France
- New research shows disease was in France one month before first cases there were confirmed
- World Health Organisation asks countries to check whether Covid-19 was circulating earlier than they thought
The statement came after an analysis in France indicated a patient was infected with the coronavirus in Europe at the end of December – nearly a month before it was previously thought to have arrived on the continent.
Researchers identified a person who was hospitalised in France on December 27 by back-testing samples from a small number of patients with flu-like symptoms. The peer-reviewed findings suggest that the disease was already spreading among the French population at that time, the team said. It also indicates the virus may have entered other countries earlier than had been believed.
The report “gives a whole new picture on everything”, WHO spokesman Christian Lindmeier said at a UN briefing in Geneva on Tuesday, as he urged countries to investigate pneumonia cases from late last year to get a clearer picture of how the new disease spread.
Covid-19 was first reported by Chinese authorities to the WHO on December 31, but was not previously believed to have spread to Europe until January 24, when patients with links to the outbreak’s initial epicentre of Wuhan, China, were diagnosed in France.