Coronavirus: First case in China emerged in November, nearly two months before official confirmation
Leaked Chinese government records have revealed that the first case of a person infected with the novel coronavirus can be traced back to November 17, 2019, in Hubei, China, nearly seven weeks before officials confirmed the existence of the virus. The authorities put multiple regions on lockdown after over two months of the first detected case to curb the spread of the disease.
China claimed that the first patient of coronavirus fell ill on December 7. However, unpublished government data shows that authorities had identified at least 266 people who were infected by the virus before December 31. The classified document comes at a time when coronavirus fears have swept across the globe with increasing number of cases in most countries.
The document, obtained by South China Morning Post, states that a 55-year-old resident of Hubei could have been the first person to have contracted the infection, now known as Covid-19, on November 17. There is, however, no evidence suggesting that the person was the "patient zero," a term used for the first carrier of an infection viral outbreak. There were between one and five new cases reported each day from that day onwards, the report added.
It is believed that the first double-digit daily toll occurred on December 17 and the total number of infections had increased to 266 by December 31. Despite the rising number of cases, the Chinese authorities, however, confirmed that they had identified a new virus only on January 7. After Beijing's announcement, the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention said that day that the virus belonged to the coronavirus family, which includes SARS and the common cold.
Before the date of the official announcements, there were reportedly online warnings in the region about the deadly virus, including posts from whistleblower doctor Li Wenliang, who later succumbed to the virus. Authorities, at the time, however, branded these reports as "rumors" and "fake news." Chinese experts, late in January, confirmed that humans in the region had caught the virus from animals sold at a market in Wuhan.
Reports state that the coronavirus "patient zero", previously, was believed to be a bed-bound Wuhan pensioner who had no connection to the animal food market, a doctor told BBC, the Daily Mail reported. The 70-year-old pensioner fell ill on December 1 and had not been to the Wuhan market before falling sick.
The document comes at a time when China and the United States are sparring with each other over where the virus originated. Covid-19 has claimed the lives of over 4,700 people worldwide with the virus infecting nearly 130,000 people.