Was the covid already circulating in October 2019 in Italy …

The World Health Organization (WHO) asked the Milan Institute of Tumors to carry out a nNew test in an independent laboratory on a previous report published in November 2020, where it was indicated the possibility that the SARS-CoV-2 virus was already circulating among the Italian population in October 2019.

The Milan Institute of Tumors had published in the Tumori Journal one of the first reports suggesting the possibility that the SARS-CoV-2 virus circulated among the population several months before the officially recorded cases, which date from February 2020 in northern Italy.

This study was based on the blood test of asymptomatic citizens participating in a lung cancer screening project between September 2019 and March 2020, with the aim of identifying antibody levels against a specific part of the virus. Some of these cases belonged to a sample that was carried out from October to December 2019.

Over the following months, phylogenic, virological and epidemiological studies added more evidence on the possibility of early circulation of the virus in Italy and other European and non-European countries, especially those that have significant trade with China. This situation differs from that explained by the Chinese authorities.

Faced with this scenario, the WHO explained that “in order to clarify the nature of the ‘signal’ identified and to contribute to the debate on the issue”, she asked the National Cancer Institute in Milan “to carry out a new test. in an independent laboratory. laboratory”.

In this sense, the international organization clarified that “the standards and the method to be used for the tests have been negotiated” and that a new test has been carried out with the samples collected.

He also indicated that the Milan Tumor Institute “is currently in contact with laboratory colleagues identified by the WHO to define the structure, content and interpretation of the results obtained and whose results will be published and disseminated”.

Meanwhile, from the institute, they clarified that “it is important to anticipate that the results and possible interpretations will not call into question what is currently thought about the nature and effects of the disease and the origin of the virus “.

In this sense, they pointed out that it will serve “only to confirm or not the possible circulation of the virus in a period prior to the first Italian cases found in February 2020 ”.