ITALY – SEWAGE samples in Milan and Turin contained traces of coronavirus since December.
This according to a study by the National Institute of Health (ISS) which stated that water from Milan and Turin showed genetic virus traces on December 18, 2019.
This added to evidence from other countries that the virus may have been circulating much earlier than thought, the BBC is reporting.
Chinese officials confirmed the first cases at the end of December. Italy’s first case was in mid-February.
In May French scientists said tests on samples showed that a patient who was treated for suspected pneumonia near Paris on December 27 actually had Covid-19, the BBC stated.
In Spain a study found virus traces in waste water collected in mid-January in Barcelona, some 40 days before the first local case was discovered, according to the BBC.
