This is what Yves Cohen, the head of the intensive care unit at the Avicenne hospital in Bobigny, says. He examined the tests carried out on patients who suffered from pneumonia in December 2019. Result: a man, now in good health, has been identified as carrying Covid-19.

What if the Covid-19 had circulated on French territory before January? This is what Yves Cohen, the head of the intensive care unit at the Avicenne hospital in Bobigny, says. A few days ago, he decided to resume PCR tests carried out on several patients with pneumonia between December and January last. The result: a man, now in good health, was identified as carrying the Covid-19.

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"I asked him how it was possible"

"Doctor Yves Cohen called me a fortnight ago, to tell me that I had tested positive for Covid-19. I asked him how it was possible, since the virus did not exist in France in December. He told me that, unfortunately, "says the former patient of Doctor Cohen, Amirouche Hammar, 53 years old. 

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Yves Cohen then tried to trace a chain of transmission explaining the contamination of this patient, at a time when it was thought that the virus was only present in China. "He asked me if I had traveled to China, or to Asian countries. I said no. But I told him that my wife works at Carrefour, not very far from Charles-de-Gaulle airport Many tourists come to do their shopping there, "says Amirouche Hammar. "At that time, the airports were open, life was normal ... I escaped from something very dangerous."