The coronavirus disease (COVID-19), formerly known as the novel coronavirus infection, was first reported in late December 2019 in Wuhan City in China. Many health experts believe that the virus had spread way before it was identified as the culprit for many pneumonia-like diseases. Now, a French doctor says that the coronavirus reached France back in December when it admitted a pneumonia patient into hospital.

The hospital in France identified the country’s earliest-known COVID-19 case on Dec. 27, 2019, as a man who was suspected of having pneumonia but actually had the novel coronavirus. The report means that the virus had reached Europe way before it was first reported on the continent in January.

https://www.news-medical.net/news/20200505/First-French-COVID-19-case-was-in-December.aspx

Retesting old samples has pushed the timeline for the global pandemic in Europe back by about a month, which makes a big difference in its outcome. Knowing who was the first case is essential in understanding how the virus spreads. However, it is too early to know if the patient is France’s “patient zero.”

Dr. Yves Cohen, the head of resuscitation at the Avicenne and Jean Verdier hospitals, retested samples from 24 patients who were treated in December and January. These patients had tested negative for flu before the coronavirus disease even evolved into a pandemic.

Of the 24 patients, one tested positive for COVID-19, and the findings of the study were published in the International Journal of Antimicrobial Agents. The hospital immediately contacted the man to inform him of the diagnosis.

The doctors from the Groupe Hospitalier Paris Seine in Sain-Denis said that a sample taken from the 42-year-old fishmonger Amirouche Hammar, who was admitted to the emergency room, tested positive for the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2).