【意大利研究机构：#意大利伦巴第大区疫情发生在1月甚至更早#】24日，在意大利高等卫生研究院举行的新闻发布会上，意大利布鲁诺·凯斯勒基金会研究员斯特法诺·梅尔勒表示，在伦巴第大区以及意大利北部，新冠肺炎疫情很早之前就已开始，可以肯定在1月就有，甚至可能更早。他进一步解释称，在伦巴第大区有上百个病例在2月之前就出现了症状，可以相信病毒在之前就已经通过多种途径被传入当地，这就解释了为什么2月20日一下子发现了上百个病例。The epidemic started much earlier "certainly in January and perhaps even earlier" in northern Italy and in Lombardy, the epicenter of COVID-19, professor Stefano Merler of the Bruno Kessler Foundation told a press conference held by Italy's Higher Institute of Health on Friday. "There are hundreds of cases who have had symptoms before February," he said, adding that this explains why there were already hundreds of cases reported in the area on February 20.