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SvennoJ on 29 March 2020
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JRPGfan said:

Patient Zero possibly found.
https://www.thechronicle.com.au/news/patient-zero-at-wuhan-market-identified/3982744/

" The 57-year-old seafood merchant at Wuhan's Huanan market, who The Wall Street Journal have identified as a woman named Wei Guixian, first started to feel sick on December 10. Thinking she was getting a cold, she walked to a small local clinic to get some treatment and then went back to work - potentially spreading the virus to countless others."

"She has recovered since leaving hospital in early January, and told The Paper she believes she may have become infected via a toilet in the market that she shared with wild meat sellers."

China isnt so sure yet, and haveing identified 266 people who were infected in 2019, all of whom came under medical surveillance at some point.
While Ms Wei could be "patient zero" from the Huanan Market, the first person in Wuhan to contract the disease remains a mystery.

"Ms Wei was one of the first 27 patients diagnosed with COVID-19, and one of the 24 cases who had direct links to the Huanan Market. "

That's only patient zero at the Hunan market. The virus was already traced back to November 17th
https://www.businessinsider.com/coronavirus-patients-zero-contracted-case-november-2020-3

It starts slow with an incubation time of 2 to 14 days. If she started to feel sick on the 10th, she could have already been infected as early as November 26th. 266 people identified in 2019, with an average growth of 1.16x, it takes well over a month to reach that number from patient zero. Plus they likely missed more cases that got better without ever getting identified.

In Italy there was already a strange pneumonia going around at the end of November as well.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-italy-timing/italian-scientists-investigate-possible-earlier-emergence-of-coronavirus-idUSKBN21D2IG
Although avg growth suggests a start of mid Januari in Italy. (50 days to reach the avg growth on March 8th when lock down began) But with testing not revealing all cases it could be earlier as well. If the 8:1 ratio is somewhat accurate (7 missed cases for every one found) that puts the start date at least another 2 weeks further back. Of course more starter seeds hastens the early spread.

It was definitely already around in Hubei in November, in Italy mid Januari at the latest.