Europa had cases in september of 2019. We didn't know at the time, but checking samples from back then revealed the virus was already internationally active

https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/03008916209747...

Also, if you look closely, notice that the reason we have no earlier samples then september is, because we have no earlier samples. Can't test one from august, if you don't have one from august.