From the South China Morning Post, March 13:
- Government
records suggest first person infected with new disease may have been a
Hubei resident aged 55, but ‘patient zero’ has yet to be confirmed
- Documents seen by the Post could help scientists track the spread of the disease and perhaps determine its source
The first case of someone in China suffering from
Covid-19, the disease caused by the novel
coronavirus, can be traced back to November 17, according to government data seen by the
South China Morning Post.
Chinese
authorities have so far identified at least 266 people who were
infected last year, all of whom came under medical surveillance at some
point.
Some of the cases were likely backdated after health authorities had tested specimens taken from suspected patients.
Interviews
with whistle-blowers from the medical community suggest Chinese doctors
only realised they were dealing with a new disease in late December.
Scientists
have been trying to map the pattern of the early transmission of
Covid-19 since an epidemic was reported in the central China city of
Wuhan in January, two months before the outbreak became a global health
crisis.
Understanding
how the disease spread and determining how undetected and undocumented
cases contributed to its transmission will greatly improve their
understanding of the size of that threat.
According to the government data seen by the Post, a 55 year-old from Hubei province could have been the first person to have contracted Covid-19 on November 17....
