avirus was found in Italian boy, four, in November 2019, study finds in latest evidence China hid Covid-19 truth from the world

  • Boy, four, from near Milan who had not been abroad fell ill with respiratory symptoms in November 2019
  • A swab that was then taken in December 2019 has since tested positive for coronavirus, study has revealed
  • China admitted coronavirus outbreak on December 31 and virus was undetected in Italy until January 30

A four-year-old boy in Italy was infected with coronavirus as early as November 2019, it is believed, in the latest piece of evidence that the disease was spreading around the world well before China acknowledged the outbreak. 

The child, who lived near Milan and had not been travelling abroad, came down with a cough on November 21 last year and was taken to a hospital's emergency wing days later.

On December 5, 2019, a swab was taken from his throat, and that specimen has since tested positive for the virus that causes Covid-19. 

But the virus went undetected in Italy until late January, only weeks before the contagion spiralled into Europe's first major outbreak. 

China has long been accused of covering up the epidemic in its early stages, thereby denying other countries time to prepare for the onslaught of infections. 

A four-year-old boy in Italy was infected with coronavirus as early as November 2019, it is believed, in another sign the virus was spreading well before China admitted it (file photo)

A four-year-old boy in Italy was infected with coronavirus as early as November 2019, it is believed, in another sign the virus was spreading well before China admitted it (file photo) 

Italy brought its infection and death rates down over the summer but they have since surged back to alarming levels

Italy brought its infection and death rates down over the summer but they have since surged back to alarming levels 

The latest discovery comes three weeks after a study by Italy's National Cancer Institute which suggested the virus was spreading as early as September 2019. 

Researchers found that dozens of volunteers involved in a trial from September until March had developed antibodies against Covid-19 well before February. 

Another test found that at least four people already had antibodies by the first week of October, suggesting they might have picked up the virus in September.

The new study suggests that a four-year-old boy who developed a cough on November 21 may also have been infected. 

Nine days after first falling ill, the boy was 'was taken to the emergency department with respiratory symptoms and vomiting', the study says. 

On December 1, he developed a measles-like rash, and it was assumed at the time that measles were the cause of his illness. 

This meant that the swab taken on December 5 was 'not optimal' for detecting Covid-19 because it was taken from the boy's throat rather than his nose. 

However, the sample was 'confirmed as positive by repeated amplification and sequencing', the scientists said. 

Writing in the Journal of Emerging Infectious Diseases, researchers say their findings were 'in agreement with other evidence of early Covid-19 spread in Europe'. 

The study said that a 'long-term, unrecognised spread' of the virus might help explain why the outbreak was so devastating to Italy in February and March.  

Other studies have suggested that the virus was already present in France, Brazil and the United States before the end of 2019. 

In May, French scientists said they had found evidence that a man was infected as early as December 27, having thought he had the flu. 

The 42-year-old had no known links to China, suggesting that 'the disease was already spreading among the French population', researchers said.  

However, it was not until December 31 that the WHO's China office was informed of a mystery pneumonia which had sickened 44 people in Wuhan.  

On January 5, the WHO was still saying that there was 'no evidence of significant human-to-human transmission' of the virus.  

China has always denied allegations of a cover-up, reacting angrily to calls for an international investigation into the origins of the virus, but there have been persistent doubts about the accuracy of the figures it releases.

Numerous reports have detailed how China withheld key details about the virus in its early stages, including from the WHO which has praised China in public. 

A young doctor, Li Wenliang, was reprimanded by police after trying to raise the alarm about the disease - and later died of it. 

The virus was first confirmed to have spread outside China in January, when a 61-year-old woman was found to be infected with it in Thailand.  

Italy confirmed its first cases on January 30, when prime minister Giuseppe Conte said two Chinese tourists had tested positive for the disease.  

Mattia Maestri was Italy's first known case of domestic transmission of coronavirus. He was diagnosed on February 21, and had not been to China or been in contact with a known case

Mattia Maestri was Italy's first known case of domestic transmission of coronavirus. He was diagnosed on February 21, and had not been to China or been in contact with a known case

The findings suggest that the virus was spreading in Italy months before Europe's first major outbreak began, forcing a national lockdown (pictured, a soldier stands guard in Milan)

The findings suggest that the virus was spreading in Italy months before Europe's first major outbreak began, forcing a national lockdown (pictured, a soldier stands guard in Milan) 

Chinese media 'shows Wuhan labs studying coronavirus' in 2018
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In the following weeks, Italy became the first country in Europe to pile up hundreds of infections a day, followed by hundreds of deaths, mostly in the wealthy north. 

Mattia Maestri, Italy's first known case of domestic transmission of coronavirus, was diagnosed on February 21, and had not been to China or been in contact with a known case.  

In March alone, there were more than 12,000 deaths in Italy, and the country had the world's largest death toll for a time until the United States surpassed it in April.  

Italy was the first Western nation to go into a full-scale lockdown, followed within a few weeks by most of Europe and the United States.  

The drastic measures brought the infection rate under control by the summer, but Italy has again suffered badly during the second wave. 

After daily deaths fell as low as five in the middle of August, they have once again surged into the hundreds, reaching a new record of 993 last Thursday. 

Italy is also one of the few countries to have piled up more than a million infections in total, and its death toll now stands at more than 61,000. 

HOW DOES CHINA AND THE US'S OFFICIAL TIMELINE COMPARE TO LATER SCIENTIFIC EVIDENCE? 

THE OFFICIAL TIMELINE OF CORONAVIRUS SPREADING FROM CHINA 

December 31 2019: Total of 27 suspected cases

The WHO China Country Office was informed of cases of pneumonia of unknown cause detected in Wuhan City, Hubei Province of China. Around 27 suspected cases were reported in the month of December.

January 9 2020: Total of 59 confirmed cases, one death

A preliminary investigation identified the respiratory disease as a new type of coronavirus, Chinese state media reported.

Officials at Wuhan Municipal Health Commission reported the outbreak's first death on January 9, a 61-year-old man. 

January 13 2020: Woman in Thailand becomes first confirmed case outside China  

January 19 2020: U.S. confirms first case in Washington state

A man in his 30s developed symptoms of the virus after returning from a trip to Wuhan.  

January 24 2020: Second US case of  COVID-19 confirmed in California

California became the second U.S. state to report a case of coronavirus in a traveler who returned to Illinois. 

January 26 2020: First case confirmed in California 

January 30 2020: CDC reports first case of person-to-person spread in the US. 

Officials confirmed a case of coronavirus in a person who had not traveled to Wuhan but shared a house with someone who had been diagnosed with the virus. 

February 4 2020: First coronavirus case in Wisconsin confirmed   

February 28 2020: Oregon confirms its first case of coronavirus 

March 2 2020: First case of coronavirus confirmed in Massachusetts 

March 1 2020: New York City reports the first case in the city and state

A woman returning to New York from Iran is identified to be the state's first case of coronavirus.

March 3 2020: Wisconsin and Rhode Island confirm their first cases

Three people in Wisconsin become the states first coronavirus cases after they traveled to Europe. 

A Rhode Island traveler who returned from Italy in mid-February is confirmed to have coronavirus.  

March 8 2020: Connecticut reports its first presumptive case of coronavirus 

March 24 2020: First two cases of coronavirus in Michigan confirmed   

WHAT WE KNOW NOW ABOUT THE SPREAD OF CORONAVIRUS FROM CHINA 

November 17 2019: First probable case identified in China

Unpublished government documents obtained by the South China Morning Post in March showed 266 people had contracted coronavirus by the end of 2019. 

The earliest of them was a 55-year-old woman, identified on November 17 - weeks before China first began to sound the alarm.  

November 17 2019 - February 1 2020: More than one million people flew from China to the U.S. before travel was shut down   

December 13-17 2019: Blood donors from California, Oregon and Washington had antibodies to coronavirus

December 30 2019 - January 17 2020: Coronavirus antibodies detected in blood donated in Michigan, Massachusetts, Wisconsin or Iowa and Rhode Island or Connecticut

January 2020: Genome sequencing of viral strains in New York City suggests that coronavirus was already in New York by January, and came mostly from Europe 

March 1: New York City reports its first case of coronavirus - but likely already had 11,000 

Northeastern University modeling suggested that there were probably more than 10,000 infections in the city already. 

An analysis by the New York Times suggested that there were likely 28,000 additional cases in five major cities, which had collectively reported just 23 infections.  

November 30 2020: 'Wuhan Files' obtained by CNN reveal China hid thousands of cases for weeks 

The Chinese government was reporting about half as many cases a day as were on its confidential list.

Experts described the delayed and underreported case counts intentional mistakes. 

However, even greater transparency would not likely have stopped coronavirus from becoming a global pandemic. 

December 1 2020: The one year anniversary of the first symptoms reported in Wuhan 

More than 63.6 million people, including 13.6 Americans, have been infected with coronavirus worldwide.

Nearly 270,00 Americans are among the global death toll of 1,47,851.  

Coronavirus was found in Italian boy, four, in November 2019

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