Coronavirus has been circulating in Italy since September 2019, study claims

With coronavirus cases around the world now at over 54 million, scientists have been working to understand exactly how and when the deadly bug started spreading.

Now, researchers claim that coronavirus may have been circulating in Italy as early as September 2019.

A team from the National Cancer Institute (INT) of the Italian city of Milan say the findings indicate that COVID-19 might have spread beyond China earlier than previously thought.

The World Health Organization has said the new coronavirus and COVID-19, the respiratory disease it causes, were unknown before the outbreak was first reported in Wuhan, in central China, in December.

Italy's first COVID-19 patient was detected on Feb. 21 in a little town near Milan, in the northern region of Lombardy.