A study shows a ‘peak’ of Covid19 cases in Italy in September 2019, and no one had noticed.
This hints that Covid19 was circulating even earlier, as the study used blood samples from a lung cancer patient screening trial that had begun in September 2019.
This study shows an unexpected very early circulation of SARS-CoV-2 among asymptomatic individuals in Italy several months before the first patient was identified, and clarifies the onset and spread of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. Finding SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in asymptomatic people before the COVID-19 outbreak in Italy may reshape the history of pandemic.