I'm sure I read somewhere recently that it wasn't first discovered in Wuhan until late December (the Xmas/New Year period).
That said, I guess it is possible that people were going down with the symptoms of coronavirus in China some time before the disease was officially diagnosed, as it were. It could have been that it was doing real damage in China and then other countries near to China some time before the authorities there knew what it actually was.
As I've mentioned before, while closing borders many weeks ago would not have stopped it getting into this country (and others) completely, it may have meant that even once it did get here, it may have been somewhat easier to contain than has proved to be the case. That has been my real gripe with the way both HMG, the US government and many across Europe dealt with this crisis in the early weeks.
Originally Posted by: David M Porter