NPR: Italian Dr. Giuseppe Remuzzi commented on why Italy was caught off guard when the virus outbreak was revealed on Feb. 21. Remuzzi says he is now hearing from general practitioners. “They remember having seen very strange pneumonia, very severe, particularly in old people in December and even November.
This means that the virus was circulating, at least in [the northern region of] Lombardy and before we were aware of this outbreak occurring in China.”