While overwhelmingly the evidence points to China and its port city of Wuhan as ground zero of the pandemic, a recent national study showed the virus was present in the US in December 2019, while a study by the French National Institute of Health pointed to the virus being in the country as early as November 2019. Getty "It is obvious that the outbreak had multiple origins," Zeng Guang, chief epidemiologist of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention told the Global Times tabloid, which effectively operates as a mouthpiece for the Chinese Communist Party.
He also pointed to Sweden, where health officials said last year it was likely there were cases as far back as November 2019, while Italy could have seen its first case as early as September 2019.
