Categories: Market Overview

Coronavirus ‘Patient Zero’ May Have Started Pandemic In November or Earlier

Coronavirus has been with us for longer than you think. According to documents seen by the South China Morning Post (SCMP), the Chinese government first detected a case of COVID-19 on Nov. 17. Yet it still hasn’t been able to confirm that this case really is the fabled “Patient Zero.” Officially, the coronavirus didn’t exist until Dec. 31. The new leak of government documents therefore pushes the discovery of COVID-19 back by several weeks.

In other words, the first person to have had the coronavirus may have caught it even earlier than November. That;s why people who had pneumonia in December and January now suspect they already had the novel virus. According to Chinese government data obtained by SCMP, a 55 year-old from Hubei province was the first person the government detected as suffering from a new virus.

Government scientists have been trying to trace the spread of the coronavirus back in time, to the original patient. So far, the earliest case they’ve found dates to Nov. 17. This date significantly alters the preexisting timeline for COVID-19’s expansion throughout the world. Indeed, the Chinese government didn’t acknowledge human-to-human transmission of the new virus until Jan. 21.

Privately, the government had identified at least nine cases from November. However, it hasn’t been able to confirm any of these as “Patient Zero,” according to the SCMP. And this means that the coronavirus could have begun spreading through China and beyond earlier than November. Having originally broke on Friday, the news of COVID-19’s likely early beginnings has already had an interesting impact.

Now, growing numbers of people are beginning to suspect they’ve already had the coronavirus. Even in the United States and the U.K, people who had unusually bad flu or pneumonia in January or December now think this was because of a COVID-19 infection. Even medical professionals admit to having seen a large number of cases of “flu-but-not-flu” since at least January.

In fact, people are using the new Nov. 17 date to explain how the coronavirus has been able to spread globally so “quickly.” The coronavirus may have begun spreading at least as early as November. And a fairly large sample of people report suffering from the worst cold or flu of their lives from around December. So if their suspicions are correct, you may have already caught the coronavirus without realizing it.

In fact, the common flu can cause pneumonia. In the 2018-19 flu season, the United States saw 490,561 people hospitalized as a result of flu. This figure includes people who suffered pneumonia and other respiratory symptoms. So just because you caught pneumonia in December or January doesn’t mean you had the coronavirus.

Coronavirus ‘Patient Zero’ May Have Started Pandemic In November or Earlier, CCN, Mar 16

The FxPro News Team

This team of professional journalists announces the most interesting and influential articles from the major financial media as a brief summary. All such news may have sufficient potential to affect the course of trading assets.

Share
Published by
The FxPro News Team

Recent Posts

ADP hints at another strong NFP on Friday  

The monthly ADP labour market report showed that America created 192K new jobs in April, above…

18 hours ago

Fed’s hawkish tone risks sinking S&P500 to 4700

Bears showed strength ahead of the FOMC decision.  U.S. indices sagged on Tuesday as investors…

22 hours ago

A new stage of Bitcoin’s decline

Market Picture  Bitcoin's closing price on Tuesday became the lowest since late February, confirming the…

1 day ago

Ebay Wave Analysis 30 April 2024

- Ebay under the bearish pressure - Likely to fall to support level 51.00 Ebay…

2 days ago

GBPAUD Wave Analysis 30 April 2024

- GBPAUD reversed from key support level 1.9135 - Likely to rise to resistance level…

2 days ago

Silver: a possible long road down

Silver has lost 2.6% since the start of the day on Tuesday to $26.4 per…

2 days ago

This website uses cookies