It was likely in China and being covered up for months before they couldn't contain the news anymore. China refuses all access to all data (wonder why
if it proves them innocent), but there is a lot of circumstantial evidence of the virus present in the Summer of 2019.
My wife and I were just talking about this...
I had something that had all the symptoms of Covid19 in November 2019
I lost all taste and smell fer about two weeks and felt horrible.
I regret not going to my primary doctor now so it would have been documented.