1 / 11The Chinese province that was the initial epicenter of the Covid-19 outbreak made significant purchases of equipment used to test for infectious diseases months before Beijing notified international authorities of the emergence of a new coronavirus, according to research by a cybersecurity company.2 / 11The province's purchase of polymerase chain reaction, or PCR, testing equipment, which allows scientists to amplify DNA samples to test for infectious disease or other genetic material, shot upward in 2019, with most of the increase coming in the second half of the year, the Australian-U.S. firm Internet 2.0 found.3 / 11Hubei province is home to Wuhan, the large Chinese city where the first known cases of the virus emerged. 4 / 11 The World Health Organization reported that its China Country Office was informed on Dec. 31, 2019, that cases of pneumonia from an unknown cause had been detected in the city.5 / 11On Jan. 7, 2020, Chinese authorities identified a new type of coronavirus one that would become known as SARS-CoV-2 and cause the illness now called Covid-19.6 / 11Since then, it has spread to virtually every corner of the world, and more than 230 million people have been infected and nearly 4.8 million have died.7 / 11Based on the research, Internet 2.0 concluded with 'high confidence that the pandemic began much earlier than China informed the WHO about Covid-19,' according to the report.8 / 11 The cybersecurity firm, which specializes in digital forensics and intelligence analysis, called for further investigation.9 / 11But several medical experts said the Internet 2.0 report wasn't enough information to draw such conclusions.10 / 11 For one thing, PCR testing, which has been in broad use for several decades, has been been growing in popularity as it has become a standard method to test for pathogens, according to one of the experts.11 / 11In addition, PCR equipment is widely used in laboratories to test for many other pathogens beside Covid-19, including in animals, and is commonly found in modern hospitals and labs.