OREANDA-NEWS. In Italy, traces of SARS-CoV-2 were detected in samples taken from wastewater in Milan (Lombardy) and Turin (Piedmont) in December last year.

This was reported by The Guardian, citing the Italian National Institute of Health (ISS). “The results, confirmed in two different laboratories using two different methods, showed the presence of SARS-COV-2 RNA in samples taken in Milan and Turin on 18 December 2019 and in Bologna on 29 January 2020,” Giuseppina La Rossa, representative of the ISS department of environment and health, said. She added that the same samples taken in October and November last year did not show the presence of a new virus.

It is known that a total of 40 samples were taken from October 2019 to February 2020; 24 samples were taken before that, during the period from September 2018 to June 2019.

The first case of a new coronavirus infection in the territory of Italy was diagnosed in the beginning of February in Lombardy.