Ben Embarek, who has just returned to Switzerland from Wuhan, told CNN: "The virus was circulating widely in Wuhan in December, which is a new finding." Ben Embarek declined to draw conclusions about what the 13 strains could have meant for the disease's history before December. Of these, 67 agreed to be tested and all proved negative, Ben Embarek said. Ben Embarek also said the mission were able to meet the first Covid-19 patient that China said they knew of. He said some other biological test samples that might have proven useful during the Wuhan mission, were also unavailable to them.

Source: The Nation February 15, 2021 11:03 UTC