Coronavirus arrived in Italy two months before the deadly spread started

[Chris Smith]

• The novel coronavirus started to spread in Italy two months after the sustained community transmission transformed the country into the world's COVID-19 epicenter.
• Researchers analyzed wastewater samples dating back to October and found traces of the virus in the sewage water for Milan and Turin, two northern Italian cities. The infection showed up as early as December 18th in those samples.
• Italy's local transmission started on February 21st when the first domestic case was diagnosed. The number of cases surged for weeks as authorities struggled to contain the virus.

The novel coronavirus started spreading in China in late December, according to official reports. A few weeks later, human transmission was confirmed, bringing our worst fears to life. In the months that followed, the deadly virus spread to every corner of the world. Even as China began to get the Wuhan epicenter under control, other massive outbreaks emerged in Europe and then in the United States.

However, that might not be the full story. China has recently confirmed that the virus's origin isn't the Wuhan market or the Wuhan lab, which has been at the center of multiple conspiracy theories. China still won't say where the first cases appeared or, more importantly, when. Geneticists indicated that the virus may have started spreading in China as early as October. Other researchers discovered increased parking activity in five Wuhan hospitals as early as August or September, consistent with the emergence of a new disease.

Separately, researchers from Italy, France, and America were able to prove that some COVID-19 cases appeared in those countries well before community transmission skyrocketed. The newest data from Italy tells us the virus was present in the country at least two months before Italy got its first local case.

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Coronavirus arrived in Italy two months before the deadly spread started originally appeared on BGR.com on Fri, 19 Jun 2020 at 20:09:17 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

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