Despite the rapid expansion that the new coronavirus has had in the world, multiple details of its nature and origin are still unknown.
However, scientists from all over the planet have redoubled their efforts to investigate and decipher the mysteries of the virus that until now have not been revealed. Some recent findings are especially surprising.
In Spain, for example, a study by the University of Barcelona (UB) indicates that in that country the new coronavirus had already started circulating almost nine months before its discovery was reported in the Chinese city of Wuhan, It has been classified as the place of origin of the pandemic.
UB scientists studied wastewater from two city treatment plants. His intention was to confirm the hypothesis that there are large amounts of the novel coronavirus genome in feces..
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While conducting the investigation, they detected the presence of the virus in samples collected in wastewater on March 12, 2019, almost a year before the government of that country declared a state of alarm due to the strong impact the pandemic was having.
“The SARS-CoV-2 genome levels clearly coincided with the evolution of COVID-19 cases in the population”, explained the coordinator of the work, Albert Bosch.
The researchers pointed out that the fact that the virus was already circulating in citizens before the first cases were diagnosed, means that many infected people are likely to receive the treatment that would be given to someone who contracted a common flu.
“Having detected the spread of SARS-CoV-2 a month in advance would have allowed for a better response to the pandemic,” Bosch said.
For his part, the authorities of the Madrid region announced this Friday, June 26 that they will begin to monitor more than 300 points of the wastewater network, 45 of which are located in the Spanish capital.
This with the aim of detecting the virus, since its elimination by faeces allows to know more quickly what its incidence is in the population.
Spain was one of the countries most affected by the pandemic. At the peak of this, it registered more than 9,600 cases in a single day. Nowadays, it has more than 247,000 infected people and nearly 28,300 deaths.
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In recent weeks, it managed to flatten the curve and has begun to gradually open up its activities. However, authorities remain on alert as there are 40 outbreaks of the new coronavirus active in the country.
The most worrisome are those in the Aragón region, in northeast Spain, where there were around 250 people infected, and those in the Malaga region, in the south of the country, where about 89 infections are registered.
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Trends THE TIME
* With information from AFP
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