Researchers find coronavirus was circulating in Italy earlier than thought

By Giselda Vagnoni

ROME (Reuters) – The new coronavirus was circulating in Italy in September 2019, a study by the National Cancer Institute (INT) of the Italian city of Milan shows, signaling that it might have spread beyond China earlier than thought.

The World Health Organization has said the new coronavirus and COVID-19, the respiratory disease it causes, were unknown before the outbreak was reported in Wuhan, central China, late last year. But it has said “the possibility that the virus may have silently circulated elsewhere cannot be ruled out.”

Read more at: https://www.reuters.com/researchers-find-coronavirus-was-circulating-in-italy-earlier-than-thought