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The new coronavirus could have been circulating in regions outside of Wuhan before the first reported cases of the outbreak, according to a joint mission investigating the origins of the pandemic.
Unpublished data suggests that SARS-CoV-2 samples were found several weeks before the first reported cases in Wuhan, the head of the China National Health Commission’s panel of experts in response to COVID said at a news conference. 19, Liang Wannian.
However, he said there was no evidence that COVID was spreading in Wuhan before December 2019, when the first cases were reported, after officials reviewed research samples, sales of pharmaceuticals and hospital records.
There was also no evidence of “large outbreaks” before December 2019 in Wuhan or elsewhere, according to a spokesman for the World Health Organization.
An international team of scientists from the World Health Organization, working with experts in China, has been investigating how the COVID-19 pandemic started.
The team visited key locations in Wuhan, where the first cases were reported, and spoke with Chinese patients, first responders and scientists.
The evidence so far suggests that the new coronavirus may have passed from animals to humans, but the team has said they are not yet sure exactly which animals it came from or where it occurred.
