The disease later identified as COVID-19 was first reported by Chinese authorities to the WHO on December 31 and was not previously believed to have spread to Europe until January.

“This gives a whole new picture on everything,” WHO spokesman Christian Lindmeier told a UN briefing in Geneva, referring to the French reports.

“The findings help to better understand the potential virus circulation of COVID-19,” he said, adding that other possible earlier cases could emerge after retesting samples, Reuters reported.

A French hospital that has retested old samples from pneumonia patients discovered that it treated a man who had COVID-19 as early as Dec. 27, nearly a month before the French government confirmed its first cases.

Lindmeier encouraged other countries to check records for pneumonia cases of unspecified origin in late 2019, saying this would give the world a “new and clearer picture” of the outbreak.

Asked about the origins of the virus in China, Lindmeier stressed that it was “really, really important” to explore this.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo alleges his country has “evidence” that the new coronavirus emerged from a laboratory in Wuhan, China, although scientists have advised the WHO that it is of animal origin.

“That may need further missions or a mission (to China) so we are looking forward to this,” Lindmeier said.

WHO’s top emergency expert Dr. Mike Ryan said on Monday that the body’s chief had raised the issue of the origins of the virus “at the highest level” during a WHO mission to China in January.

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Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus’ comments came during a video press conference from WHO headquarters where he noted the coronavirus in Western Europe appears to be stable or declining.

In Africa, Central and South America and Eastern Europe where numbers are low, there are worrying upward trends, said Tedros.

He said most countries are in the early stages of COVID-19 but some that were affected early are now seeing a resurgence in cases.

“Make no mistake: we have a long way to go. This virus will be with us for a long time,” said Tedros. “There’s no question that stay-at-home orders and other physical distancing measures have successfully suppressed transmission in many countries. But this virus remains extremely dangerous.”

He said early evidence suggests most of the world’s population remains susceptible.

“That means epidemics can easily re-ignite,” said Tedros.

Executive Director of the WHO’s Health Emergencies Program Mike Ryan said there has to be “two-way communication and there is no confusion in the communication” from authorities in getting their message across.

Tedros responded to calls by some American politicians for his resignation after US  President Donald Trump accused him of being China-centric and ordered Washington to stop funding the WHO.

He indicated he would not resign without directly answering.

“I hope that the freezing of the funding will be reconsidered and that the US  will once again support WHO,” said Tedros. “Our responsibility is saving lives, and I will focus on changing this organization for good, but not only that, especially now focusing on the pandemic and saving lives. That’s my focus.”

More than 2.62 million cases have been reported worldwide as deaths have surpassed the 182,000 mark, according to data compiled by the Johns Hopkins University in the US. Nearly 707,000 patients have recovered.

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