Timeline: The early days of China's coronavirus outbreak and cover-up

[Mista]

So Wuhan management mishandled the situation?

I am confused as to why doctors were being reprimanded early on and by whom.

I think it's more like being afraid to break the chain of command rather than wilfully covering up.

Their own top medical expert Zhong Nanshan admitted that their CDC is too centralized and hierarchical. Officials have to report and escalate step by step to the authority in Beijing before going public. But by doing so loses valuable time. In the US, local CDCs have direct access to the Federal government and have the authority to go public before informing the Federal government.

Pros and cons of different systems, I guess.

https://www.guancha.cn/politics/2020_02_27_538736.shtml?

 

[LeGenD]

I think it's more like being afraid to break the chain of command rather than wilfully covering up.

Their own top medical expert Zhong Nanshan admitted that their CDC is too centralized and hierarchical. Officials have to report and escalate step by step to the authority in Beijing before going public. But by doing so loses valuable time. In the US, local CDCs have direct access to the Federal government and have the authority to go public before informing the Federal government.

Pros and cons of different systems, I guess.

https://www.guancha.cn/politics/2020_02_27_538736.shtml?

Makes absolute sense now. Thank you.

My take is that the Chinese really lack in explaining facts and figures in a coherent level to those who are seeking answers.

They need people like you actually, engaging and responsive.

 

[Thamizh Puli]

I'm Chinese. I know all the whistleblower story. They spreaded rumors before the experts team drew a conclusion. Mentioning the whistleblower things only proves you are brainwashed by west propaganda.

There was a family member of a patient, who didn't get infected with all close contact with the patient. He even spoon feeded the patient. Changed cloths for the patient. Yet the fact is he was not infected. And all the infected cases seemed to be related to the wet market(Later we know some cases were not). How could the medical experts team draw a conclusion that the virus can infect between humans?

Kankan326 there are two issues here:
1. you being Chinese calling someone else brainwashed. I can overlook that to sense of humor.
2. in para-2 you are denying the very nature of this contagion - how the infection occurs. THAT is silly regardless of who you are

Maybe Thamizh Puli was saying China should eliminate the virus within Wuhan before it speaded. I believe no country can accomplish that task.

not even eliminate completely (which would have been great if they could), at least not hide the info and share it as soon as they knew!

let me make a few things clear, just in case:

1) I am not anti-Chinese in any respect. I think all people are great and know very smart Chinese students. I do think, like India, China has a LOT to teach the rest of the world and hope that we will all learn the best from each other
2) And I do think there has been a inflection point among the developed western countries over the past 15 years where gradually all the things that made West great are being lost to the detriment of the next generation. So the west imo do have to urgently learn ways of living form India and China.

But none of that takes away this mistake that China made - they tried to cover things up and in the process lost two to three crucial weeks for the rest of the world. People were flying out of China with the virus without anyone knowing about it.

It's language barrier lol. I can read both English and Chinese so I have direct access to first-hand news from both sides without 'filtering'. And yeah, the Chinese have the great firewall which inevitably restricts information flow from both sides for the public.

I reading the comments on the YouTube video posted on post #27, and I realized the importance of effective communication to both domestic and international audience lol. It's a huge plus for Singapore to communicate with minimal language barrier with the rest of the world, I guess.

This may have been a problem too

 

[Mista]

Makes absolute sense now. Thank you.

My take is that the Chinese really lack in explaining facts and figures in a coherent level to those who are seeking answers.

They need people like you actually, engaging and responsive.

It's language barrier lol. I can read both English and Chinese so I have direct access to first-hand news from both sides without 'filtering'. And yeah, the Chinese have the great firewall which inevitably restricts information flow from both sides for the public.

I'm reading the comments on the YouTube video posted on post #27, and I realized the importance of effective communication to both domestic and international audience lol. It's a huge plus for Singapore to communicate with minimal language barrier with the rest of the world, I guess.

https://www.reddit.com/r/path%3D%252Fr%252Fsingapore%252Fcomments%252Ffjpgvr%252F

 

[nang2]

I think it's more like being afraid to break the chain of command rather than wilfully covering up.

Their own top medical expert Zhong Nanshan admitted that their CDC is too centralized and hierarchical. Officials have to report and escalate step by step to the authority in Beijing before going public. But by doing so loses valuable time. In the US, local CDCs have direct access to the Federal government and have the authority to go public before informing the Federal government.

Pros and cons of different systems, I guess.

https://www.guancha.cn/politics/2020_02_27_538736.shtml?

Actually it is not because of being afraid to break the chain of command. China CDC has no claws. It is not even authorized, let alone breaking the chain of command. In the end, they had to resort to something creative and sneaky, like publishing a paper on New England Journal to expose what was happening there in China.

The cover-up, IMHO, is indeed willfully done. The supreme leader gave some casual instruction to hope avoid disruption of the Chinese New Year. The lower-rank official took it very serious and wanted to cover it up until the New Year has passed. Virus didn't get the memo and the rest is the history.

 

[Nilgiri]

China must be sued by the rest of the world for the irresponsible and callous handling combined with criminal deception for misleading and hiding the facts until too late.

It won't be a suing per se....but there will be a long protracted retribution for sure, coming in all shapes and forms.

Critical mass of regular people are not happy (and this will only grow with time this year and who knows how long) and will hold each of their govts, large companies and even each other (in position to do so) for sustained re-addressal from the source culprit.

It will be severe targetting of Chinese govt...and pressure on Chinese people too that if they want things to go back to normal, they have to do their job on chinese govt too.

Right now there is more immediate priorities to deal with in crisis, but the larger global strategy to deal with this rogue "face saving above all" govt in China will grow with time.

No more "if you make them richer, they will become nicer/democratic".... that ship has long sailed and Chinese govt and maybe even larger society dont want it. OK...their choice to be so...and their consequences to experience now.

 

[F-22Raptor]

It won't be a suing per se....but there will be a long protracted retribution for sure, coming in all shapes and forms.

Critical mass of regular people are not happy (and this will only grow with time this year and who knows how long) and will hold each of their govts, large companies and even each other (in position to do so) for sustained re-addressal from the source culprit.

It will be severe targetting of Chinese govt...and pressure on Chinese people too that if they want things to go back to normal, they have to do their job on chinese govt too.

Right now there is more immediate priorities to deal with in crisis, but the larger global strategy to deal with this rogue "face saving above all" govt in China will grow with time.

No more "if you make them richer, they will become nicer/democratic".... that ship has long sailed and Chinese govt and maybe even larger society dont want it. OK...their choice to be so...and their consequences to experience now.

Its clear this will damage China for years to come. This is not going to be forgotten.

 

[INDIAISM]

Axios has compiled a timeline of the earliest weeks of the coronavirus outbreak in China, highlighting when the cover-up started and ended — and showing how, during that time, the virus already started spreading around the world, including to the United States.

Why it matters: A study published in March indicated that if Chinese authorities had acted three weeks earlier than they did, the number of coronavirus cases could have been reduced by 95% and its geographic spread limited.

This timeline, compiled from information reported by the Wall Street Journal, the Washington Post, the South China Morning Post and other sources, shows that China's cover-up and the delay in serious measures to contain the virus lasted about three weeks.

Dec. 10: Wei Guixian, one of the earliest known coronavirus patients, starts feeling ill.

Dec. 16: Patient admitted to Wuhan Central Hospital with infection in both lungs but resistant to anti-flu drugs. Staff later learned he worked at a wildlife market connected to the outbreak.

Dec. 27: Wuhan health officials are told that a new coronavirus is causing the illness.

Dec. 30:

• Ai Fen, a top director at Wuhan Central Hospital, posts information on WeChat about the new virus. She was reprimanded for doing so and told not to spread information about it.
• Wuhan doctor Li Wenliang also shares information on WeChat about the new SARS-like virus. He is called in for questioning shortly afterward.
• Wuhan health commission notifies hospitals of a “pneumonia of unclear cause” and orders them to report any related information.

Dec. 31:

• Wuhan health officials confirm 27 cases of illness and close a market they think is related to the virus' spread.
• China tells the World Health Organization’s China office about the cases of an unknown illness.

Jan. 1: Wuhan Public Security Bureau brings in for questioning eight doctors who had posted information about the illness on WeChat.

Jan. 2: Chinese researchers map the new coronavirus' complete genetic information. This information is not made public until Jan. 9.

Jan. 7: Xi Jinping becomes involved in the response.

Jan. 9: China announces it has mapped the coronavirus genome.

Jan. 11–17: Important prescheduled CCP meeting held in Wuhan. During that time, the Wuhan Health Commission insists there are no new cases.

Jan. 13: First coronavirus case reported in Thailand, the first known case outside China.

Jan. 15: The patient who becomes the first confirmed U.S. case leaves Wuhan and arrives in the U.S., carrying the coronavirus.

Jan. 18:

• The Wuhan Health Commission announces four new cases.
• Annual Wuhan Lunar New Year banquet. Tens of thousands of people gathered for a potluck.

Jan. 19: Beijing sends epidemiologists to Wuhan.

Jan. 20:

• The first case announced in South Korea.
• Zhong Nanshan, a top Chinese doctor who is helping to coordinate the coronavirus response, announces the virus can be passed between people.

Jan. 21:

• The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirms the first coronavirus case in the United States.
• CCP flagship newspaper People’s Daily mentions the coronavirus epidemic and Xi's actions to fight it for the first time.
• China's top political commission in charge of law and order warns that “anyone who deliberately delays and hides the reporting of [virus] cases out of his or her own self-interest will be nailed on the pillar of shame for eternity."

Jan. 23: Wuhan and three other cities are put on lockdown. Right around this time, approximately 5 million people leave the city without being screened for the illness.

Jan. 24–30: China celebrates the Lunar New Year holiday. Hundreds of millions of people are in transit around the country as they visit relatives.

Jan. 24: China extends the lockdown to cover 36 million people and starts to rapidly build a new hospital in Wuhan. From this point, very strict measures continue to be implemented around the country for the rest of the epidemic.

The bottom line: China is now trying to create a narrative that it's an example of how to handle this crisis when in fact its early actions led to the virus spreading around the globe.

https://www.axios.com/timeline-the-...-up-ee65211a-afb6-4641-97b8-353718a5faab.html

Not only that even the first two cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Rome were of Chinese couple, originally from Wuhan, who had arrived in Italy on January 23 via milan travelled from the airport to Verona, then to Parma, arriving in Rome on 28 January...

 

[Nilgiri]

Not only that even the first two cases of COVID-19 confirmed in Rome were of Chinese couple, originally from Wuhan, who had arrived in Italy on January 23 via milan travelled from the airport to Verona, then to Parma, arriving in Rome on 28 January...

Thats just what they were able to confirm....its so downstream now that there is not really much point to finding any other "patient-zeros"/super-spreaders.

There are 100,000 migrant workers in northern italy from Wuhan (or from total China I dont know) that were shuttling back from China due to CNY season (and early closures/fears there at that point = early return).

Given that, its pretty clear there was multi-vectoring spread in Italy to create such a ramp of downstream+still increasing caseload we see now where there needed to be drastic health-rationing in spots.

 

[mikkix]

AND WHAT DO YOU THINK?

"It is not a Virus, it is a Cold War and the consequence is not a pandemic, it will be a great world recession"

Twenty years ago, it was said that in the future, wars would stop being armed conflicts to become biological and economic wars, because the "most feasible" way to destroy a nation is to destroy its currency. Well that day came.

The two largest economies in the world: the United States and China.

A trade conflict between the United States and China began in March 2018, when President Trump announced the intention to sanction Chinese products for 50,000 million dollars, arguing a serious history of unfair commercial practices and thefts of intellectual property. Which is totally true.

In retaliation, the Chinese government imposed tariffs on more than 138 American products. And so this began.

This trade war has cost China a major economic slowdown that impacts the world economy. Its growth is falling: in 2018, 6.6%; in 2019, 6.1% and has a forecast of 5.4% for 2020.

On the other hand, this trade war has also caused an overheating of the US economy, because this is a rivalry that goes beyond the trade, all the geopolitical elements are at stake to unleash a "cold war", which will inevitably end in a great economic recession. world.

On December 7, 2019, China declared the first case of coronavirus and to date has confirmed 80,945 cases and 3,180 deaths from the new coronavirus.

The first relevant question is why did China hide information about the virus for two months? from November 17, 2019, when the outbreak arose, to January 22, 2020, the date on which the quarantine was decreed in the city of Wuhan, thus allowing the eminent spread of the virus.

In my opinion, China was very clear that an alert for a new virus and a possible pandemic would impact the world economy, but specifically oil prices and, consequently, the US economy.

Given this situation, on March 5 a meeting was held between the 14 members of OPEC (Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries) to convince Russia, the world's second largest oil producer, to cut production by 1.5 million barrels per day and thus cushion the fall in oil prices, but Russia did not accept.

Why did Russia not accept, if the fall in prices was imminent in the face of the coronavirus? It happens that Russia fully understands that a cut in oil production to cushion the fall in prices directly benefits the United States economy, and that, Russia will not allow it under any current scenario.

Apparently, this geopolitical and economic decision has allowed Russia to stay on the lowest statistics of the pandemic, 34 confirmed cases, 2 cases fully recovered and 0 deaths. A great coincidence for Russia, who apparently knows things that we do not know.

In contrast, if the drop in oil prices continues, many US producers could be seriously affected. And it seems that the Russians are willing to put up with lower prices in the short term to achieve the consolidation of a Russian leadership in the oil industry.

Given the Russian refusal, Saudi Arabia, the world's largest oil producer, reported that it will increase production to 10 million barrels per day from April and that it will offer a 20% discount in key markets, a move that apparently is an attempt to punish to Russia but deep down, the intention is to further hit the United States and align it with new trade conditions.

But we are talking about the United States and we all know who it is and what it is capable of.

Previously, President Trump, who has access to the most advanced medical and scientific research systems, reported that the virus dies at 26 degrees and there was no need to worry. A couple of weeks later, the United States had 1,268 confirmed cases and 33 deaths.

In my opinion, the figures are false and what really happened is that President Trump simply decided to get on the Pandemic Train as the perfect pretext to close all borders to China and he did it. A real chess move.

So Russia and Mongolia close their borders; North Korea, Taiwan, Malaysia, Vietnam, Singapore and the Philippines prohibit the entry of Chinese citizens and more than 30 international airlines suspend flights to the Asian destination.

China has been isolated by the world and I personally consider that it will be the key argument for the pandemic to disappear.

How is this going to end? With a great world economic recession.

Mexico already perceives the shortage of Chinese products. The markets and establishments have begun to replace their offer with national and American products. Quiubo!

 

[S10]

Its clear this will damage China for years to come. This is not going to be forgotten.

Your politicians were gloating back in January, and now they want to hold someone other than themselves responsible. Take responsibility for your own incompetence and idiotic leadership. I understand that morons such as yourself may have difficulty doing so, but try.

 

[Han Patriot]

You can blame China for the virus but you can't blame China for your incompetence.

 

[Uguduwa]

You can blame China for the virus but you can't blame China for your incompetence.

Somewhat true. US under Donnie has absolutely been a failure. This is what happens when you take what you have for granted and start asking for reckless change. Career politician is many times more desirable than a business tycoon with a track record of backruptcy.

 

[beijingwalker]

Somewhat true. US under Donnie has absolutely been a failure. This is what happens when you take what you have for granted and start asking for reckless change. Career politician is many times more desirable than a business tycoon with a track record of backruptcy.

None of those who critiziced China can do a better job than China, it's always easy to point fingers at others,even what's happening in their countries are just utterly failure like a truly failed state.

 

[JSCh]

Timeline of the 2019–20 coronavirus pandemic in November 2019 – January 2020 - Wikipedia

Pandemic chronology[edit]
17 November 2019[edit]
The original case of the novel coronavirus emerged on 17 November 2019 according to official Chinese government sources, but was not recognized at that time.[8][9][10]

1 December[edit]
The first known patient started experiencing symptoms on 1 December 2019. He had not been to the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market of Wuhan. No epidemiological link could be found between this case and later cases.[11][12][13]

8–18 December[edit]
Between 8 and 18 December 2019, seven cases later diagnosed with novel coronavirus were documented; two of them were linked with the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market; five were not.[14]

12 December[edit]
Chinese state broadcaster CCTV reported in a broadcast airing on 12 January 2020 that a "new viral outbreak was first detected in the city of Wuhan, China, on 12 December 2019."[15]

21 December[edit]
Chinese epidemiologists with the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CCDC) published an article on 20 January 2020 stating that the first cluster of patients with "pneumonia of an unknown cause" had been identified on 21 December 2019.[16]

24 December[edit]
First publicly reported collection of virus sample from patient for genetic sequencing.[17][18][19]

25 December[edit]
Report of medical staffs in two hospitals in Wuhan suspected to be infected and were being isolated around 25 December.[20]

26 December[edit]
On 26 December 2019, a laboratory identified the coronavirus from the sample collected on 24 December as to be most closely related to a bat SARS-like coronavirus.[18]

27 December[edit]
On 27 December 2019, almost complete genetic sequencing of the previous sample have been finished and shared to Institute of Pathogen Biology, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences & Peking Union Medical College (CAMS&PUMC).[18]

29 December[edit]
According to a CCDC publication on 31 January 2020, the facts leading up to the identification of the 2019-nCoV were as follows, "On 29 December 2019, a hospital in Wuhan admitted four individuals with pneumonia and recognized that all four had worked in the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market, which sells live poultry, aquatic products, and several kinds of wild animals to the public. The hospital reported this occurrence to the CCDC, which led Wuhan CCDC staff to initiate a field investigation with a retrospective search for pneumonia patients potentially linked to the market. The investigators found additional patients linked to the market, and on 30 December, health authorities from Hubei Province reported this cluster to CCDC. The following day, CCDC sent experts to Wuhan to support the investigation and control effort. Samples from these patients were obtained for laboratory analyses."[21]

30 December[edit]
On 30 December 2019, genetic sequencing report of the pathogen of a patient indicated inaccurately the discovery of Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus (SARS coronavirus) in the test result.[18] After receiving the test result, multiple doctors in Wuhan shared the information via internet, including Dr. Li Wenliang, an ophthalmologist at Wuhan Central Hospital, who posted a warning to alumni from his medical school class via a WeChat online forum that a cluster of seven patients treating within the ophthalmology department had been unsuccessfully treated for symptoms of viral pneumonia and diagnosed with SARS.[22][23][18] Because these patients did not respond to traditional treatments, they were quarantined in an ER department of the Wuhan Central Hospital.[24] In the WeChat forum, Li posted that this cluster of patients appeared to be infected by SARS. Dr. Li posted a snippet of an RNA analysis finding "SARS coronavirus" and extensive bacteria colonies in a patient's airways according to a chat transcript that he and other chat members later shared online. Dr. Li contracted this coronavirus from a patient he treated, was hospitalized on 12 January 2020 and died on 6 February 2020.[25] Due to public outcry directed to the CCP outlets retracted original reports, while international news agents corrected reports published on the 6th stating the death on 7th. The official date of death was later announced as 7 February 2020.[26] Dr. Li is widely known for the statement he gave before his death exemplifying how the Chinese government botched the containment of the novel coronavirus, stating "There should be more than one voice in a healthy society."[22]

The Chinese National Health Commission announced later that evening that 8 doctors engaging in this WeChat forum had been arrested by Wuhan Police and charged with "llegal acts of fabricating, spreading rumors and disrupting social order."[27]

Wuhan medical authorities forbade doctors from making public announcements and ordered them to report cases internally.[28]

News of an outbreak of "pneumonia of unknown origin" started circulating on social media on the evening of 30 December 2019.[29][30][31] The social media reports stated that 27 patients in Wuhan—most of them stall holders at the Huanan Seafood Market—had been treated for the mystery illness.[31]

On the evening of 30 December 2019, an "urgent notice on the treatment of pneumonia of unknown cause" was issued by the Wuhan Municipal Health Committee on its Weibo social media account.[32][33] It was reported that since the beginning of December, there had been "a successive series of patients with unexplained pneumonia"—27 suspected cases in total, seven of which were in critical condition and 18 were stable, two of which were on the verge of being discharged soon.[32] The Wuhan Municipal Health Committee reported to the WHO that 27 people had been diagnosed with pneumonia of unknown cause.[33] Most were stallholders from the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market, seven of whom were in critical condition. The Wuhan Municipal Health Commission also made a public announcement regarding the situation.[34]

Early investigations into the cause of the pneumonia ruled out seasonal flu, SARS, MERS and bird flu.[35][36]

Hong Kong Secretary for Food and Health Sophia Chan Siu-chee announced after an urgent night-time meeting with officials and experts, "[any suspected cases] including the presentation of fever and acute respiratory illness or pneumonia, and travel history to Wuhan within 14 days before onset of symptoms, we will put the patients in isolation."[31]

31 December[edit]
On 31 December 2019, an "urgent notice on the treatment of pneumonia of unknown cause" was issued to the Wuhan Municipal Health Center.[37]

As a result of the official announcement of the Wuhan Municipal Health Commission, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan immediately tightened their inbound screening processes.[38][39]

Qu Shiqian, a vendor at the Huanan Seafood Market, said government officials had disinfected the premises on 31 December 2019 and told stallholders to wear masks. Qu said he had only learnt of the pneumonia outbreak from media reports. "Previously I thought they had flu," he said. "It should be not serious. We are fish traders. How can we get infected?"[31]

"Chinese state television reported that a team of experts from the National Health Commission had arrived in Wuhan on 31 December 2019 to lead the investigation, while the People's Daily said the exact cause remained unclear and it would be premature to speculate."[30][31][40] Chinese state broadcaster CCTV reported that a team of senior health experts had been dispatched to the city of Wuhan and were reported to be "conducting relevant inspection and verification work."[32]

Tao Lina, a public health expert and former official with Shanghai's Centre for disease control and prevention, said, "I think we are [now] quite capable of killing it in the beginning phase, given China's disease control system, emergency handling capacity and clinical medicine support."[31]

1 January 2020[edit]
According to the Chinese state-sponsored Xinhua News, the Huanan Seafood Market was closed on 1 January 2020 for "regulation."[24] However, in the Consortium's report of 24 January 2020, it was stated that the Huanan Seafood Market had been closed on 1 January 2020 for "cleaning and disinfection.However the virus could only stay on surfaces for so long so this was useless"[38]

2 January[edit]
On 2 January, 41 admitted hospital patients in Wuhan, China, were confirmed to have contracted (laboratory-confirmed) the 2019-nCoV (Novel coronavirus); 27 (66%) patients had direct exposure to Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market.[11] All 41 patients were subsequently relocated from the hospital they had originally been diagnosed in to the Jinyintan Hospital in Wuhan, China.[11]

3 January[edit]
On 3 January 2020, Chinese scientists at the National Institute of Viral Disease Control and Prevention (IVDC) determined the genetic sequence of the novel β-genus coronaviruses (naming it '2019-nCoV') from specimens collected from patients in Wuhan, China, and three distinct strains were established.[21]

Health authorities in Wuhan reported 44 cases, a big jump from the 27 reported on Tuesday. Eleven of the 44 were seriously ill, the Wuhan Municipal Health Commission said, although there had been no reported deaths to date. The health of the 121 close contacts of the cases was being monitored.[41]

On 3 January 2020, Dr. Li Wenliang, the Wuhan ophthalmologist who had been arrested for spreading false "rumors" on WeChat, was summoned to the Wuhan Public Security Bureau where he was told to sign an official confession and admonition letter promising to cease spreading false "rumors" regarding the coronavirus. In the letter, he was accused of "making false comments" that had "severely disturbed the social order". The letter stated, "We solemnly warn you: If you keep being stubborn, with such impertinence, and continue this illegal activity, you will be brought to justice—is that understood?" Dr. Li signed the confession writing: "Yes, I understand."[23] Li would later be supported e.g. in a blog run by China's Supreme People's Court on 28 January 2020.[42] On 7 February 2020, Chinese state-sponsored news reported that Dr. Li had died from complications arising from his infection to the Wuhan coronavirus only to later delete the post and report Dr. Li as being in critical condition.[43] He was subsequently confirmed the same day as having regrettably indeed deceased.[44] Dr. Li is now being heralded as a whistleblower who exposed the Chinese government's early efforts to cover up the seriousness of the coronavirus pandemic which resulted in its rapid spread across China and the world.[22]

4 January[edit]
The head of the University of Hong Kong's Centre for Infection, Ho Pak-leung, warned that the city should implement the strictest possible monitoring system for a mystery new viral pneumonia that infected dozens of people on the mainland, as it was highly possible that the illness was spreading from human to human. The microbiologist also warned that there could be a surge in cases during the upcoming Chinese New Year. Ho said he hoped the mainland would release more details as soon as possible about the patients infected with the disease, such as their medical history, to help experts analyse the illness and to allow for more effective preventive measures to be put in place.[45]

The Singapore Ministry of Health said on Saturday, 4 January, that it had been notified of the first suspected case of the "mystery Wuhan virus" in Singapore, involving a three-year-old girl from China who had pneumonia and a travel history to the Chinese city of Wuhan.[46] On 5 January, the Singapore Ministry of Health released a press statement stating that the earlier suspected case was not linked to the pneumonia cluster in Wuhan and was also tested negative for the SARS and MERS-CoV.[47]

Chinese officials were criticized for failing to disclose any information about the "mysterious virus" that machine translations of official reports suggested may be caused by a new coronavirus.[41]

The WHO waited for China to release information about the "mysterious new pneumonia virus".[48] The United Nations agency activated its incident-management system at the country, regional and global level and was standing ready to launch a broader response if it was needed. The WHO's regional office in Manila said in Twitter posts Saturday.: "#China has reported to WHO regarding a cluster of pneumonia cases in Wuhan, Hubei Province.The Govt has also met with our country office, and updated @WHO on the situation. Govt actions to control the incident have been instituted and investigations into the cause are ongoing."[48]

The Wuhan Institute of Virology didn't respond to an emailed request for comment on the infectious source.[49]

5 January[edit]
The number of suspected cases reached 59 with seven in a critical condition. All were quarantined and local medical officials commenced the monitoring of 163 of their contacts. At this time, there had been no reported cases of human-to-human transmission or presentations in healthcare workers.[50][51]

6 January[edit]
On Monday, 6 January, the Wuhan health authorities announced they continued seeking the cause but had so far ruled out influenza, avian influenza, adenovirus, and coronaviruses SARS and MERS as the respiratory pathogen that had infected 59 people as of 5 January.[52]

7 January[edit]
Since the outburst of social media discussion of the mysterious pneumonia outbreak in Wuhan, China, Chinese authorities censored the hashtag #WuhanSARS and were now investigating anyone who was allegedly spreading misleading information about the outbreak on social media.[53]

The world continued to wait for China to disclose more information about what had triggered an unexplained pneumonia outbreak in Wuhan, China's tenth-largest city.[54]

"The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) issued a travel notice Monday for travelers to Wuhan, Hubei province, China due to the cluster of cases of pneumonia of an unknown etiology…"[55]

8 January[edit]
Scientists in China announced the discovery of a new coronavirus.[56][57]

South Korea announced the first possible case of virus coming from China.[58] South Korea put a 36-year-old Chinese woman under isolated treatment amid concerns that she had brought back a form of viral pneumonia that had sickened dozens in mainland China and Hong Kong in the previous weeks. The unidentified woman, who worked for a South Korean company near capital Seoul, had experienced cough and fever since returning from a five-day trip to China on 30 December, the KCDC said in a press release. The woman had spent time in Wuhan, China, but had not visited the Huanan Seafood Market.

9 January[edit]
The WHO confirmed that the novel coronavirus had been isolated from one person who had been hospitalised.[59][60] On the same day, the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control posted its first risk assessment.[61] The WHO also reported that Chinese authorities had acted swiftly,[59] identifying the novel coronavirus within weeks of the onset of the outbreak, with the total number of positively tested people being 41.[62] The first death from the virus occurred in a 61-year-old man who was a regular customer at the market. He had several significant medical conditions, including chronic liver disease, and died from heart failure and pneumonia. The incident was reported in China by the health commission via Chinese state media on 11 January.[63][64][65][66]

Chinese scientists reported on Chinese state broadcaster CCTV that they had found a new "coronavirus in 15 of 57 patients with the illness in the central city of Wuhan, saying it has been preliminarily identified as the pathogen for the outbreak".[15] The scientists announced that the current 'Wuhan Virus', a coronavirus, appears to not be as lethal as SARS. They reported that the new viral outbreak was first detected in the city of Wuhan on 12 December 2019.[15] Additionally, a total of 59 people have been identified as contracting the illness, seven patients had been in a critical condition at some stage, and no healthcare workers were reported as having been infected.[15]

10 January[edit]
The gene sequencing data of the isolated 2019-nCoV, a virus from the same family as the SARS coronavirus, was posted on Virological.org by researchers from Fudan University, Shanghai. A further three sequences from the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, one from the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences, and one from Jinyintan Hospital in Wuhan were posted to the Global Initiative on Sharing All Influenza Data (GISAID) portal.[63][67][68][69] The same day, Public Health England issued its guidance.[61]

On 10 January 2020, Dr. Li Wenliang, Chinese ophthalmologist and coronavirus whistleblower, started having symptoms of a dry cough. On 12 January 2020, Dr. Wenliang started having a fever. He was admitted to the hospital on 14 January 2020. His parents also contracted the coronavirus (presumably from Dr. Wenliang) and were admitted to the hospital with him. Dr. Wenliang tested negative several times for the coronavirus until finally testing positive on 30 January 2020.[23]

First two patients in Shenzhen, Guangdong, China attend University of Hong Kong-Shenzhen Hospital.[70]

11 January[edit]
The first two patients in Shenzhen city transferred into negative pressure room in Third People's Hospital of Shenzhen City due to matching lab test result, symptoms, and epidemiology and are being listed as suspected cases. The cases was not confirmed at the time, because requirement from the Chinese government at the time was that first case in each individual cities need to be submitted to provincial CDC, verified by national CDC, and then evaluated and confirmed by a specific diagnostic team in national CDC.[70]

11–12 January[edit]
In China, more than 700 close contacts of the 41 confirmed cases, including more than 400 healthcare workers, had been monitored, with no new cases reported in China since 5 January.[36][50][63][71] The WHO published initial guidance on travel advice, testing in the laboratory and medical investigation.[63]

13 January[edit]
The USCDC announced that the genome had been posted on the NIH genetic sequence database, GenBank.[72] On the same day, Thailand witnessed the first confirmed case of 2019-nCoV, the first outside China.[73] The affected 61-year-old Chinese woman, who is a resident of Wuhan, had not visited the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market, but was noted to have been to other markets. She had arrived in Bangkok on 8 January.[74]

14 January[edit]
On 14 January, two of the 41 confirmed cases in Wuhan were reported to include a married couple, raising the possibility of human-to-human transmission.[74][75]

15 January[edit]
A second death occurred in a 69-year-old man in China on 15 January.[76][77] The WHO published a protocol on diagnostic testing for 2019-nCoV, developed by a virology team from Charité Hospital.[76]

16 January[edit]
On 16 January, the WHO was alerted by Japan's Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare that a 30-year-old male Chinese national had tested positive to 2019-nCoV during a hospital stay between 10 and 15 January. He had not visited the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market, but possibly had close contact with an affected person in Wuhan.[78][79]

17 January[edit]
On 17 January, Thailand's second confirmed case was reported in a 74-year-old woman who arrived in Bangkok on a flight from Wuhan.[80][81] The number of laboratory-confirmed cases rose to 45 in China.[82]

Yang Xiaobo, head of the Assets Supervision and Administration Commission, died of pneumonia caused by the virus on 17 January.[83]

18 January[edit]
After the first 41 laboratory-confirmed cases were identified on January 2, 2020,[11] Chinese officials announced no new cases for the next 16 days, then reported 17 additional laboratory-confirmed cases, three of which were in critical condition. This brought the number of laboratory-confirmed cases in China to 62. The patients' ages ranged from 30 to 79. 19 were discharged and eight remain critical.[84]

On the same day, the Wuhan City government held an annual banquet in the Baibuting community celebrating the Chinese New Year with forty thousand families in attendance despite the officials' knowledge of the spread of the Wuhan coronavirus. They shared meals, plates and ate together.[85] On 21 January 2020 when Wuhan mayor Zhou Xianwang was asked on state television why this banquet was held even after the number of cases had risen to 312 he responded, "The reason why the Baibuting community continued to host the banquet this year was based on the previous judgment that the spread of the epidemic was limited between humans, so there was not enough warning."[28]

19 January[edit]
On 19 January, the first confirmed cases were reported in China, outside Wuhan, one in the southern province of Guangdong and two in Beijing.[86] Wuhan reported 136 additional laboratory-confirmed cases, bringing the total number of laboratory-confirmed cases in China to 201. A new death was also reported in Wuhan, bringing the total number of fatalities in China to three.[87][88]

20 January[edit]
Scientists from the China CDC identified three different strains of the 2019-nCoV confirming that the original Wuhan coronavirus had mutated into two additional strains.[16]

Chinese premier Li Keqiang urged decisive and effective efforts to prevent and control the epidemic.[89] First confirmed case reported in South Korea.[90] Beijing and Guangdong reported an additional three and thirteen laboratory-confirmed cases, respectively. Shanghai confirms its first case, bringing the total number of laboratory-confirmed cases in China to 218.[91][92] The investigation team from China's National Health Commission confirmed for the first time that the coronavirus can be transmitted between humans.[42] At least two people had become infected whilst living hundreds of miles from Wuhan.[93]

Five attendees of an as-yet-unnamed private international sales company meeting of 109 attendees, 94 from overseas, held from 20–22 January at the Grand Hyatt Hotel, Singapore were diagnosed with the Wuhan coronavirus upon returning home: one from Malaysia, two from South Korea and two from Singapore.[94][95] One of the attendees was from Wuhan, China. It was reported that the company held a buffet for their delegates. These four diagnoses were not reported until 5 February 2020.[96] The first laboratory-confirmed case in Singapore of an unrelated 67 year-old native of Wuhan was not reported until 23 January 2020.[97] These cases linked to the meeting were the first evidence that the Wuhan coronavirus had spread through human-to-human contact outside China, which the WHO has said is deeply concerning and could signal evidence of a much larger outbreak.[96] As of 5 February 2020, the sister of a Malaysian who attended the meeting had been infected and four more local staff in Singapore were confirmed as having virus symptoms.[96][98]

21 January[edit]
A total of 291 cases have now been reported across major cities in China, including Beijing and Shanghai. However, most patients are in Wuhan, the central city of 11 million at the heart of the outbreak.[42]

A report by the MRC Centre for Global Infectious Disease Analysis at Imperial College London suggested there could be more than 1,700 infections. However, Gabriel Leung, the dean of medicine at the University of Hong Kong, put the figure closer to 1,300.[42]

After 300 confirmed diagnoses and 6 deaths, Chinese state media warned lower-level officials not to cover up the spread of a new coronavirus.[42] Officials declared that anyone who concealed new cases would "be nailed on the pillar of shame for eternity", the political body responsible for law and order said. Local Chinese officials initially withheld information about the epidemic from the public. It later vastly under-reported the number of people that had been infected, downplayed the risks and failed to provide timely information that experts say could have saved lives. In its commentary published online on Tuesday January 20, 2020, the Communist Party's Central Political and Legal Commission talked of China having learned a "painful lesson" from the SARS epidemic and called for the public to be kept informed. Deception, it warned, could "turn a controllable natural disaster into a man-made disaster".[42]

The Wuhan Municipal Health Commission reported at least 15 medical workers in Wuhan have also been infected with the virus, with one in a critical condition.[42]

WHO Situation Report 1:[99] (Please note that the WHO Situation Reports as official reportage stand on their own.)

Confirmed cases were reported in several new locations in China. Zhejiang province and Tianjin reported five and two laboratory-confirmed cases, respectively.[100][101] Guangdong reported three additional laboratory-confirmed cases.[102] Shanghai and Henan province reported an additional four and one laboratory-confirmed cases, respectively.[103] One laboratory-confirmed case was reported in Sichuan province, and Chongqing reported five laboratory-confirmed cases.[104][105] Shandong, Hunan, and Yunnan all reported one laboratory-confirmed case each.[106][107][108] Jiangxi reported two laboratory-confirmed cases.[109] The total number of laboratory-confirmed cases in China increased to 312 and the death toll increased to six.[104][110][111]

New cases were also reported outside of mainland China. Taiwan reported its first laboratory-confirmed case,[112] and the United States reported its first laboratory-confirmed case in the state of Washington, the first in North America.[113][114]

China's Wuhan Institute filed to patent the use of Gilead's remdesivir for the treatment of novel coronavirus.[115]​