In this age of fake news, where did the Coronavirus victims get exposure to the virus to begin with (all the way from China)?

In  wild  animal markets  in Wuhu  China

From what I can tell, the current, unproved theory is there are two types of human carriers... one has a bunch of symptoms so easy to spot and the other has no or limited symptoms and difficult to spot... or while the virus is building up in the carrier's body, the symptoms are difficult to spot.

During this time, the carrier is moving about, touching things that other people touch... and the COVID-19 spreads...

So... some people from Wuhan, with no symptoms, got on a plane, train, bus, whatever and went shopping, on vacation, visited family/friends, whatever... and touched stuff (doorknobs, steering wheels, pens, cell phones, keyboards, whatever... and someone touched whatever they touched... 1+ weeks later, many of these people exhibit symptoms. and the rest we know...

They went to a meat market where they eat bat soup, dogs, cats and frogs. They got it as a punishment for eating animals.

from other people that had it

Americans were IN China. Some for work and some on vacation. Chinese come to America on vacation and for work. Globalism can help spread illnesses very easily.

To begin with? In China you mean? They got it from eating wild animal meat. The Chinese are daring epicurians. Shark fin soup. Bird's nest soup. I had the blow-torch chicken once - black on the outside and barely warm inside.