Bloomberg News reports that a new study from the ISS, Italy’s Institute of Public Health, found that the coronavirus was present in waste water samples taken from Milan and Turin sewage systems in mid-December. This was two months before the first case of coronavirus was confirmed in the country.

Giuseppina La Rosa, who led the ISS research team said, “Traces of SARS-Cov-2 have been found in samples of waste water taken in Milan and Turin on December 18 and in Bologna on January 29.” He added that, “More traces were detected in other test samples through January and February.”

These tests have been conducted regularly by ISS’s environment and health department since 2007.

According to Bloomberg:

Overall, 40 samples were analyzed from October 2019 to February 2020 with an additional 24 from September 2018 through June 2019 used as controls.

Hospital tests in the coastal region of Liguria have also indicated the likelihood that the virus was present in the country at the end of last year, Italian newspapers have reported. Italy’s earliest reported domestic virus cases have been linked to a man who sought treatment in mid-February of this year, though some people arriving from abroad had been diagnosed with the disease earlier in the winter.

The results are consistent with similar tests carried out on waste water in Barcelona and with clinical tests on patients hospitalized in France, which showed biological traces of the virus as early as last December.

La Rosa told Bloomberg that “the new ISS study may contribute to shedding light on the first phase of the virus’s circulation in Italy.”

As one Twitter user notes below, if the coronavirus was detected in waste water samples on December 18, the virus had to have reached Italy in early December.

This new information corroborates what the world already knew – that China lied to the world.

HOLD UP.

December 18th?

That means the virus was in Italy in EARLY December.

China HAS to have been lying longer than even December. They didn't report the first case until Dec 29th, right? https://t.co/YS6rpBlimf

— RBe (@RBPundit) June 19, 2020

The obvious problem?

If the virus was in Italy in December, it was likely in in the UK, France and NY by late Dec or early Jan.

There was no way anyone was going to stop this.

China therefore owns the Lion's share of the blame for failing to tell the truth.

— Pradheep J. Shanker (@Neoavatara) June 19, 2020

There are studies from elsewhere (including Stanford and Michigan) that showed they could detect COVID activity rates in the sewage.

I know its disgusting, but it is an interesting way to track the viral rates.

— Pradheep J. Shanker (@Neoavatara) June 19, 2020

2/ I've often thought how hard it would be to discover a novel respiratory pathogen in the middle of flu season, anywhere in the world.

There is bound to be a delay. If you're not looking for something, you probably aren't going to find it right away. #covid19

— Abraar Karan (@AbraarKaran) June 19, 2020

H/T: Greg P., Twitchy