New studies suggest that in 2019 before the WHO declared a pandemic, there was evidence of Covid-19 cases in Europe. The European Journal of Epidemiology published an article on February 6, 2021, on evidence of early circulation of SARS-CoV-2 in France, which suggests a spread of the virus in Europe before the global pandemic started.
Using serum samples routinely collected from 9.144 adults, it was possible to identify 353 participants with a positive test for SARS-CoV-2, among which 13 were between November 2019 and January 2020 and were confirmed by antibody neutralization tests.
Investigations of 11 of these participants revealed the experience of symptoms possibly related to a SARS-CoV-2 infection or potential risk situations for exposure to the virus.
However, this was not the only investigation into the detection of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in the pre-pandemic period.
According to the Tumori Journal article, also published in 2021, the presence of specific antibodies related to SARS-CoV-2 was investigated in blood samples from 959 asymptomatic individuals enrolled in a lung cancer screening study between September 2019 and March 2020.
Specific antibodies to SARS-CoV-2 were detected in 111 of 959 (11.6%) subjects.
This study reveals an unexpected and very early circulation of the virus in asymptomatic individuals in Italy several months before the identification of the first patient.
Internationally, there are numerous investigations that also point in this direction.
Among them, one article reported the case of a patient hospitalized for hemoptysis (lung disorders) in an intensive care unit in December 2019 in Paris, France. A molecular analysis confirmed the diagnosis of SARS-CoV-2 infection.
Another study done by Harvard University showed a significant increase in hospital traffic in the Wuhan region since autumn 2019.
These findings suggest that the virus could have been circulating before the outbreak in several countries.
China’s Foreign Minister disputed the finding and told Bloomberg they fall into the same category as other false claims about the origins of the coronavirus.
“Virus traceability is a serious scientific issue that must be addressed by scientists. China’s anti-epidemic campaign is open to the world, the situation is clear, the facts are clear at first glance, and they stand the test of time and history.”
