COVID-19: New research in Spain worries experts

Madrid, June 27th: Spanish experts discovered the presence of coronavirus in samples taken in March 2019 from sewage in Barcelona, Spain. The samples were taken nine months before the start and spread of coronavirus in China.

According to international media, a team of experts from the University of Barcelona has been testing sewage water samples since April this year to find out about the diseases that are expected to spread through it.

During the study, they found evidence of coronavirus in samples taken on January 15, 2020, 41 days before the first case of coronavirus was confirmed in the country.

The experts then decided to re-examine the samples taken earlier. The experts re-examined the sewage samples taken between January 2018 and December 2019 and found the genome (or DNA) of the virus in the samples taken on March 12, 2019.

Albert Bush, head of the team of experts, says the coronavirus discovered at the time was not very powerful but was present.

The Spanish experts’ research is being further investigated, if it is confirmed that the virus discovered in Barcelona’s sewers is coronavirus, then its presence will be proved even before the general estimates of experts.

Dr. John Roman of the Spanish Society for Public Health and Safety says it would not be appropriate to draw conclusions at this time. “Whenever a result comes to light, more data, more studies and more samples are needed to confirm it to rule out the possibility that it is not the result of an error in the research,” he said.

Dr. John added that the virus was considered flu and precautionary measures were not taken, which led to the spread of the virus worldwide. It is believed that Spain ranks sixth in the world in terms of the spread of coronavirus, more than 294,000 cases of coronavirus have been confirmed in Spain, while 28,338 people have died so far.