Study: Coronavirus Circulated in Europe, US from Late 2019

By Staff, Agencies

A new British study found that the novel coronavirus has circulated around the globe already at the end of 2019, CNN reported on Wednesday.

The virus was apparently infecting people in Europe and the US weeks before the first patients were diagnosed in January and February.

“All these ideas about trying to find a Patient Zero are pointless because there are so many patient zeros,” genetics researcher Francois Balloux told CNN.

Researchers of the University College London Genetics Institute used more than 7,600 viral samples from around the world and looked at mutations in the virus.

“The virus is changing, but this in itself does not mean it's getting worse,” Balloux said.

In fact, according to the research, there is no evidence to suggest the virus is becoming more easily transmitted or causing more serious diseases.

The findings do, however, rule out the assertion the virus has spread across the globe long before it was detected.

“Everyone was hoping for that. I was too,” Balloux said. He estimated that at most, some 10% of the global population has been exposed to the coronavirus.