真相放大镜：新冠病毒到底起源于何处？

新冠病毒到底起源于何处？这个问题变得越来越难以回答了。

随着科学家研究不断深入，不同国家都有证据表明，新冠病毒很可能在我们意识到之前就已经在世界范围内传播开来了。

不久前，西班牙科学家在去年3月巴塞罗那的废水样本中检测到了新冠病毒的存在。如果这一发现得到确凿证实，那意味着，新冠病毒的传播比我们已知的时间至少提前了9个月。

That question became harder to answer each day as scientists investigate deeper.

Recently, more evidences from different countries are telling us the virus probably had been circulating among humans long before we realized it.

Virologists from Spain detected traces of COVID-19 in a sample of sewage water in Barcelona collected in March, 2019. 

If confirmed, that means COVID-19 probably existed 9 months earlier before we knew.

The virus broke out in Wuhan in January and eventually led the city to lock down. China was the first country that reported the new virus, and shared the strains to the WHO. 

Soon later, more countries reported cases.

Spain's new founding is not the only evidence that is suggesting the COVID-19 probably have been with us for quite some time.

而西班牙不是唯一一个发现类似证据的国家。

意大利于去年11月在米兰和都灵收集的废水样本中，检测到了新冠病毒；

巴西也在去年11月收集的废水中检测到了新冠病毒；

法国复查了去年11月到今年4月肺炎病例的CT胸片，发现了最早具有新冠病例特征的病例出现在去年11月16日。

美国新泽西州的一位市长确信自己去年11月便感染了新冠病毒，不仅因为当时的他有所有的新冠肺炎症状，同时，他的抗体检测也进一步证实了他曾被感染过。

这些发现，都远早于这些国家报告的第一个确诊病例。

In America, earlier before, Michael Melham, the mayor of Belleville, New Jersey, said he believed he contracted the COVID-19 in last November after attending a conference.

Not only because he was very sick and had almost every symptom that COVID-19 would cause, his antibody test also proved he had antibody for the virus, meaning he was infected before. That was several months earlier before the US confirmed its first case in January 20th.

In France, the date of the first case was also pushed back. 

A French hospital reviewed almost 2,500 chest scan images that were conducted from November to April. They found the earliest case with typical COVID-19 symptoms could be dated back to November 16, 2019, and that was 10 weeks earlier than they confirmed their first case.

In Italy, scientists also found traces of the virus in waste water samples collected in Milan and Turin in last December, suggesting the virus exists in Italy almost earlier before they confirmed its first case.

The same thing happened in Brazil. Researchers there found the coronavirus in sewage samples from last November.

在这一系列证据出现后，牛津大学专家汤姆·杰斐逊认为，新冠病毒不一定起源于中国。病毒可能早就悄无声息的在全世界范围内开始传播，等到条件适合的时候，才进一步大范围爆发。

After new evidence emerged around the world, Oxford Professor Tom Jefferson said the coronavirus may not have originated in China … it had been lying dormant throughout the globe until the environment was right for it to thrive.

The WHO is urging all countries to investigate pneumonia cases from late last year to get a better picture of the virus. As scientists across the world are learning more about the virus, more truth about the virus is gradually being revealed.

科学家们的研究不断深入，病毒溯源已成为各国科学家的工作重点。

与其玩政治游戏、借着病毒污名化其他国家，有这时间，让科学家们好好研究病毒的真相，不好吗？

So, instead of rushing into giving the virus insulting names, and politicizing like some politicians do, why don't we just all just let scientists do their job, and find out the real story about the virus?

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