The Sankei Shimbun reported, based on the South China Morning Post, that the first confirmed coronavirus patient in China may have developed symptoms on November 17, 2019.
The warnings by Dr. Ai Fen, Dr. Li Wenliang, and other doctors at Wuhan Central Hospital, followed by punishment and gag orders from Chinese authorities, reveal serious evidence of China’s delayed response and information concealment.

March 15, 2020
The police authorities punished Li and seven others, saying that they had “spread rumors.”
Dr. Ai was also severely reprimanded by hospital executives and was ordered not to tell even her own husband anything about the pneumonia.

The following is from yesterday’s Sankei Shimbun.

“China’s First Patient Was in November”
Government Announcement Says December
Does This Support Concealment?
Hong Kong Newspaper

By NISHIMI Yoshiaki, Beijing.
The Hong Kong newspaper South China Morning Post, SCMP, electronic edition, reported on the 13th that the first confirmed patient of the novel coronavirus at the present stage developed symptoms in Hubei Province on November 17 of last year.
It says this is based on undisclosed materials of the Chinese government.
The Chinese government has explained that the first infected person developed symptoms on December 8.
If the report is true, it seems to be data that supports the delay in the authorities’ initial response and the opacity of information disclosure.
On December 31, the Chinese authorities made their first public announcement that 27 people had developed “viral pneumonia of unknown cause.”
It was on January 20 that specialists acknowledged human-to-human transmission.
On the other hand, according to SCMP, the person believed to be the first infected patient was a 55-year-old person in Hubei Province, and in November at least nine men and women aged from 39 to 79 were infected.
The number of infected people reached 266 on December 31 and 381 on January 1.
The number of infected people apparently includes those who were confirmed later by tracing back.
However, it can be said to be data showing that by the end of last year, there had been an explosive increase supporting human-to-human transmission.
In fact, in Wuhan at that time, many doctors were calling for vigilance against a virus with strong infectious power.
According to an article published on the 11th by the Chinese magazine People, electronic edition, Dr. Ai Fen of Wuhan Central Hospital saw a test report that judged the cause of the pneumonia to be severe acute respiratory syndrome, SARS coronavirus, and felt a sense of crisis.
She sent a photograph of it to a doctor she knew.
Eight doctors forwarded it to a group chat, and the information spread.
One of them was Dr. Li Wenliang, 33, an ophthalmologist at the same hospital, who died on February 7.
The police authorities punished Li and seven others, saying that they had “spread rumors.”
Dr. Ai was also severely reprimanded by hospital executives and was ordered not to tell even her own husband anything about the pneumonia.
This article was deleted immediately after it was published.
According to an article by Caixin, electronic edition, which was also deleted, the report sent to Wuhan Central Hospital was an analysis of genetic information conducted by a private institution in Beijing.
It is said that there was an error in part of the testing, and that it was judged to be SARS, which has a genetic structure similar to the novel coronavirus.