In a statement, the University of Barcelona authorities wrote that the presence of coronavirus was found in a sample taken from the wastewater of the Catalan capital on March 12, 2019.
“The results of the research prove that (…) this virus existed much earlier than any confirmed case of Covid-19 in the world,” wrote the University in a press release.
The university authorities explained that the research conducted on the presence of SARS-CoV-2 particles in the wastewater of the Barcelona agglomeration covered not only the current year, but also the years 2018-2019.
As explained by the head of the research team, Albert Bosch, of all samples taken from Barcelona’s sewerage water between January 1, 2018 and December 31, 2019, only wastewater from March 12, 2019 contained the genomes of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus.
In Bosch’s opinion, the exception, which is a one-day sample with the presence of coronavirus, may be due to the fact that the infected person stayed briefly in the capital of Catalonia, probably as a tourist.
Before testing samples from 2018-2019, a team led by Bosch maintained that the new coronavirus appeared in wastewater in Barcelona for the first time in mid-January 2020, i.e. 41 days before confirming the first Covid-19 incidence in this city.
According to official data from the Spanish medical services, the first case of Covid-19 in Barcelona was confirmed on February 25 this year. at a 36-year-old tourist from Italy.
(Source: Marcin Zatyka, PAP)
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