A World Health Organization investigation into China on the origins of the coronavirus found that there could be cases of coronavirus in China two months earlier than originally identified.
The four-week investigation showed that more than 90 people in central China were hospitalized for coronavirus symptoms two months before December 8, 2019, the day China says the first coronavirus patient was found. the Wall Street Journal reported.
The WHO wants China to test blood samples from a wider population starting in the fall of 2019 to confirm its theory, but Chinese authorities said they are not yet allowed to test them, the WHO researchers at WSJ.
Chinese officials tested antibodies against some of the 90 patients who were diagnosed with coronavirus symptoms last fall, but no antibodies were found. However, WHO researchers think they waited too long to test them and the antibodies dwindled, according to WSJ.
It is unclear how long the antibodies in the body survive for the coronavirus, as it is debated whether they last a couple of weeks or a couple of months.
Blood samples and medical history have been checked, but there is no evidence that the virus appeared before December 2019, Liang Wannian, head of the coronavirus group at China’s National Health Commission, said Tuesday,
Further studies and blood samples will be needed to determine if the coronavirus existed before December 2019.