New data reveals coronavirus 'patient zero' might be from mid-November

For context, the outbreak was only first brought to the attention of the World Health Organization at the end of December.

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Medical workers in protective suits attend to novel coronavirus patients inside an isolated ward at a hospital in Wuhan, Hubei province, China February 6, 2020. Picture taken February 6, 2020 (photo credit: CHINA DAILY VIA REUTERS)
Medical workers in protective suits attend to novel coronavirus patients inside an isolated ward at a hospital in Wuhan, Hubei province, China February 6, 2020. Picture taken February 6, 2020
(photo credit: CHINA DAILY VIA REUTERS)
Newly reviewed data from the Chinese government reveals that "patient zero" of the coronavirus outbreak may have been infected earlier than previously believed, The South China Morning Post reported.
According to the data, which has not yet been made public, the COVID-19 virus was likely first contracted by a 55-year-old man from China's Hubei Province on November 17, 2019.
For context, the outbreak was only first brought to the attention of the World Health Organization at the end of December.
However, this data is far from conclusive, as increasing reviews of the data from the Chinese government keep placing the beginning of the outbreak further and further back.
Since November 17, one to five new cases were reported on a daily basis, slowly increasing as time went on. On December 15, 27 cases were confirmed. By December 20, that number had jumped to 60. The year 2019 ended with 266 cases, and ended the first day of 2020 with over 380. While the first nine cases were reported in November, it is unknown if any of them are patient zero.
However, it is possible that there could have been earlier cases.
This new research is supported by other academic research from Chinese researchers. One such study, which focused on keywords used on the Chinese social media platform WeChat, found that the relevant keywords relating to coronavirus symptoms first began to spike in November.
"The findings might indicate that the coronavirus started circulating weeks before the first cases were officially diagnosed and reported," wrote Business Insider's Holly Secon of the study.
However, time running out to find patient zero, as the increasing number of infections means its harder to identify the source of it all.
The coronavirus outbreak first rose to international attention at the end of 2019, with the epicenter of the outbreak being the city of Wuhan in China's Hubei Province. Since then, it has spread across the world, infecting over 160,000 people and killing more than 6,000.
The term "patient zero" is based on a mistaken reading of the capital letter O in "patient O," referring to an early transmitter of AIDS in the US. He was called "O" because he was referred to as being "Out-of-California" in a 1984 CDC study.