Coronavirus: Paris doctor says Covid-19 was in France in 2019

Prof Yves Cohen and his team revisited suspected pneumonia cases from December

Commuters observe social distancing rules on a metro train. AFP

A doctor in France believes Covid-19 was already in the country last December, confounding the initial belief the virus entered in 2020.

Yves Cohen, who heads intensive care units at two hospitals in France’s densely populated north-central region near Paris, said his team had revisited the tests of 24 patients believed to have been suffering from pneumonia or the flu in December and January. The first patient to be officially diagnosed with the disease in France was on January 24.

Prof Cohen said that, after reviewing the results multiple times, he has since found a man tested positive for Covid-19 on December 27.

"We called the patient. He was sick 15 days and he infected his two children, but not his wife, who works in a supermarket, at the fish stall," Prof Cohen told BFM TV.

The 53-year-old man, who has since recovered, had not visited China but there are suspicions his wife may have been the first to have contracted the coronavirus. While her stall only sells French products, the one next door is staffed by people of Chinese origin.

"He was surprised, he did not understand how he was infected. We put the puzzle together, he had not made any trips, the only contact is that made by his wife.”

The man’s wife may have contracted the virus but not shown any symptoms, Prof Cohen said.

“All the negative PCRs for pneumonia must be retested. The virus was probably circulating,” he said, referring to the polymerase chain reaction tests that help identify positive Covid-19 tests.

With nearly 25,000 deaths, France has been hit hard by the outbreak. It plans to take its first steps out of a strict country-wide lockdown, which has been in place since mid-March, next week.

Interior Minister Christophe Castaner warned France would have to “live with the virus for a while” as the government extended the health emergency by two months. Anyone entering the country from outside the Schengen area have to remain quarantined for two weeks.

Some schools could re-open on May 11 but masks will have to be worn in public.

Some businesses will reopen and people will be able to travel within 100 kilometres of their homes without a signed justification for their movement.

But Health Minister Olivier Veran has warned that this would depend on further declines in Covid-19 infections, especially in hard-hit areas like the Paris region and northeast France.