Corona virus, China major city lockdowns, etc.

[dilettante]

But wouldn't we have seen more cases and an outbreak then? Like if it was even in China a year ago, shouldn't we have been seeing outbreaks and increased numbers of death then?

Or are you thinking the virus mutated to be more transmissible during that time, and the version they're detecting is less transmissible?

Seems like a puzzle either way, doesn't it? If it has been lurking around that long it makes you wonder why it took so long to start spreading and producing serious symptoms. Perhaps it was symptomatically more flu-like until a mutation occurred more recently?