coronavirus
coronavirusISTOCK

The Wall Street Journal reported that a new U.S. intelligence report reveals that at least three researchers who worked at the Institute of Virology in the city of Wuhan, the city where the coronavirus first broke out, were hospitalized in November 2019 after displaying coronavirus-like symptoms.

China had reported that the first verified coronavirus case occurred in December 2019, a month after the three workers were hospitalized. The hospitalizations were first reported in a report during Donald Trump's term as president, but the earlier report did not reveal the severity of the symptoms.

The revelation of the new intelligence report raises doubts about claims that the virus was transmitted from an animal to humans, and the leaders of the World Health Organization are expected to convene soon to continue investigating the source of the virus.