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Doctors in the French Haut-Rhin region, hit hard by Covid-19, say they’ve detected several cases dating back to 16 November 2019  long before the disease is believed to have surfaced in France, and before it was even announced in China. 
   
      Radiologists at the Albert Schweitzer private hospital in Colmar, near the German border, reviewed 2,456 chest X-rays produced between 12 October, 2019 and 30 April, 2020 to see if they coud find one or more “patient zeros”. 
According to French daily Le Figaro, each of the scans was carefully re-studied before being filed into three categories: “not Covid-compatible”, “Covid-compatible” and “typical Covid”. Any scan falling into the last two categories needed the validation of a second or third doctor.


The hospital's chief of medical imaging, Professor Michel Schmitt, said the process allowed radiologists to pinpoint two cases of “typical anomalies caused by Covid-19” dated 16 November, 2019 and then 12 others in December and January – up until the virus reached its epidemic stage.
Doctors from across France have been trying to track the country's earliest case which, until now, is understood to have been found in Bondy, in the department of Seine-Saint-Denis north of Paris, on 27 December – after PCR flu samples were re-tested.
Earlier this month, Yves Cohen, head of resuscitation at the Jean Verdier and Avicenne hospitals – in Bondy and nearby Bobigny –told French TV channel BFM that a man had tested positive for Covid-19 nearly a month before the French government confirmed its first cases.




http://www.rfi.fr/en/france/20200520-scans-show-french-patients-were-sick-with-covid-19-in-mid-november-doctors-say-colmar-haut-rhin

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Coronavirus: China’s first confirmed Covid 19 case traced back to November 17

• Government records suggest first person infected with new disease may have been a Hubei resident aged 55, but ‘patient zero’ has yet to be confirmed
• Documents seen by the South China Morning Post could help scientists track the spread of the disease and perhaps determine its source

The first case of someone in China suffering from Covid-19, the disease caused by the novel coronavirus, can be traced back to November 17, according to government data seen by the South China Morning Post.Chinese authorities have so far identified at least 266 people who were infected last year, all of whom came under medical surveillance at some point.Some of the cases were likely backdated after health authorities had tested specimens taken from suspected patients.Interviews with whistle-blowers from the medical community suggest Chinese doctors only realised they were dealing with a new disease in late December.

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/3074991/coronavirus-chinas-first-confirmed-covid-19-case-traced-back

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Coronavirus started spreading in the U.S. in January, CDC says By early February, there was "cryptic circulation" of the virus.


https://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/coronavirus-started-spreading-u-s-january-cdc-says-n1217766