Researchers from Wuhan lab sought hospital care in November 2019 before COVID outbreak: Report China reported to the World Health Organization that the first patient with Covid-like symptoms was recorded in Wuhan on December 8, 2019. Share Via Email | A+A A- Security personnel gather near the entrance of the Wuhan Institute of Virology during a visit by the World Health Organization team. (Photo | AP) By ANI WASHINGTON: Three researchers from China's Wuhan Institute of Virology sought hospital care after they fell ill in November 2019, a month before Beijing reported the first patient with Covid-like symptoms, the Wall Street Journal reported. The report provides fresh details on the number of researchers affected, the timing of their illnesses, and their hospital visits.