A doctor suggests the virus arrived in France almost a month earlier than previously thought
PARIS, May 5 (NNN-AGENCIES) — A patient diagnosed with pneumonia near Paris on Dec 27 actually had the coronavirus, his doctor has said.
Dr Yves Cohen told French media a swab taken at the time was recently tested, and came back positive for Covid-19.
The patient, a man in his 50s who has since fully recovered, said he has no idea where he caught the virus as he hadn’t been to any infected areas.
This news means the virus may have arrived in France almost a month earlier than previously thought.
Until now, the country’s first three cases of coronavirus were confirmed on Jan 24.
Of those, two had been to Wuhan in China – where the outbreak was first detected – and the third was a close family member.
Dr Cohen, head of emergency medicine at Avicenne and Jean-Verdier hospitals near Paris, told French broadcaster BFMTV that he recently went over the files of patients admitted with flu-like symptoms in December and January.
In total he tested the swabs of 14 patients, he said.
“We re-tested the nasal swabs which were conducted at the time in relation to another diagnosis, to try and find traces of coronavirus,” he said.
“Out of 14 patients, one tested positive. We tested it two more times to make sure there was no mistake. And twice, it came back positive.”
Dr Cohen said he had alerted the National Health Agency (ARS), and was urging other virologists to re-test swabs in their hospitals for Covid-19.
France announced that more than 25,000 people had died in the country due to the coronavirus epidemic, after a new jump in the daily death toll.
The health ministry said 25,201 people were now confirmed to have died from the virus in the country in hospitals and nursing homes. Over the last 24 hours, 306 people died from COVID-19, more than double the figure of 135 from the day earlier.
France is due to emerge on May 11 from a lockdown that began in mid-March to combat the virus, with officials saying the epidemic is steadying while warning the country must remain cautious to ward off a second wave.
According to the latest figures, the more positive recent trends continued, with 123 fewer patients suffering from the coronavirus in intensive care to make a total of 3,696 receiving such urgent treatment.
Nationwide, there were also 267 fewer patients in hospital for coronavirus treatment, making a total of 25,548, the ministry said. — NNN-AGENCIES
