Did coronavirus reach Europe last year?
French doctor claims first infection emerged in December in patient who had not travelled to China

The Covid-19 coronavirus may have reached Europe as early as December - one month before the first officially confirmed case, a French doctor has claimed.
Yves Cohen, head of intensive care at the Avicenne hospital in Paris, has “caused a stir” by alleging that repeat coronavirus tests on samples from patients admitted for pneumonia in December and January have come back with one positive result, The Telegraph reports.
The positive sample was taken on 27 December from a 53-year-old man who had not travelled to China, he told French news channel BFM TV.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
Until now, Europe’s first confirmed Covid-19 case was believed to be in a man diagnosed in Bordeaux on 24 January.
The suggestion has “sparked further doubt on the spread of the coronavirus” and “sent shockwaves through the French scientific community”, says the Daily Express.
“We’ve reanalysed all negative tests on people who were diagnosed with pneumonia. Of the 24 patients, we had one positive result for Covid-19,” said Cohen, who claims that the test was repeated several times to confirm the findings.
The patient “is well and has fully recovered”, he added.
The BBC says that Cohen has reported the case to regional health authorities and “called for other negative tests from the same period to be re-examined”.
France has been planning to begin lifting lockdown restrictions from 11 May, with children returning to school, some businesses reopening and people allowed to travel within (60 miles) of their homes.
–––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––For a round-up of the most important stories from around the world - and a concise, refreshing and balanced take on the week’s news agenda - try The Week magazine. Start your trial subscription today –––––––––––––––––––––––––––––––
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
Book reviews: ‘Red Scare: Blacklists, McCarthyism, and the Making of Modern America’ and ‘How to End a Story: Collected Diaries, 1978–1998’
Feature A political ‘witch hunt’ and Helen Garner’s journal entries
By The Week US Published
-
The backlash against ChatGPT's Studio Ghibli filter
The Explainer The studio's charming style has become part of a nebulous social media trend
By Theara Coleman, The Week US Published
-
Why are student loan borrowers falling behind on payments?
Today's Big Question Delinquencies surge as the Trump administration upends the program
By Joel Mathis, The Week US Published
-
Five years on: How Covid changed everything
Feature We seem to have collectively forgotten Covid’s horrors, but they have completely reshaped politics
By The Week US Published
-
The banned pesticide poisoning Caribbean paradise
Under the radar Martinique and Guadeloupe have been rocked by soaring cancer rates amid other diagnoses
By Rebekah Evans, The Week UK Published
-
HMPV is spreading in China but there's no need to worry
The Explainer Respiratory illness is common in winter
By Devika Rao, The Week US Published
-
Marty Makary: the medical contrarian who will lead the FDA
In the Spotlight What Johns Hopkins surgeon and commentator Marty Makary will bring to the FDA
By David Faris Published
-
Long Covid: study shows damage to brain's 'control centre'
The Explainer Research could help scientists understand long-term effects of Covid-19 as well as conditions such as MS and dementia
By The Week UK Published
-
FDA OKs new Covid vaccine, available soon
Speed read The CDC recommends the new booster to combat the widely-circulating KP.2 strain
By Peter Weber, The Week US Published
-
Mpox: how dangerous is new health emergency?
Today's Big Question Spread of potentially deadly sub-variant more like early days of HIV than Covid, say scientists
By The Week UK Published
-
What is POTS and why is it more common now?
The explainer The condition affecting young women
By Devika Rao, The Week US Last updated