COVID-19 Pandemic
Coronavirus World Map
★ Key Moments
2019-Nov 17 @ The first COVID-19 case, a 55-year-old patient from Wuhan, the provincial capital of Hubei, China.
[an unverified report from the South China Morning Post]
2019-Dec 26 @ A pneumonia cluster was observed and treated by Doctor Zhang Jixian. Abnormal pneumonia of unknown cause was found from then on. 【湖北省中西医结合医院呼吸与重症医学科主任张继先接诊了具有流感症状但病因不明的发热病人】
2019-Dec 27 @ The situation was reported to Hubei Provincial Hospital of Integrated Chinese & Western Medicine by Doctor Zhang Jixian.
2019-Dec 30 @ In late December, doctors in Wuhan were puzzled by many "pneumonia" cases of unknown cause. On 30 December 2019, the Wuhan CDC sent out an internal memo to all Wuhan hospitals to be alerted and started an investigation into the exact cause of the pneumonia.
2019-Dec 30 @ On the same day, Li Wenliang saw a patient's report which showed a positive result with a high confidence level for SARS coronavirus tests. The report had originated from Ai Fen, director of the emergency department at Wuhan Central hospital, who became alarmed after receiving laboratory results of a patient whom she had examined who exhibited symptoms akin to influenza resistant to conventional treatment methods. The report contained the phrase "SARS coronavirus." Ai had circled the word "SARS" and sent it to a doctor at another hospital in Wuhan. From there it spread throughout medical circles in the city, where it reached Li. At 17:43, he wrote in a private WeChat group of his medical school classmates: "7 confirmed cases of SARS were reported [to hospital] from Huanan Seafood Market." He also posted the patient's examination report and CT scan image. At 18:42, he added "the latest news is, it has been confirmed that they are coronavirus infections, but the exact virus strain is being subtyped." Li asked the WeChat group members to inform their families and friends to take protective measures whilst requesting discretion from those he shared the information with; he was upset when the discussion gained a wider audience than he had hoped. 【武汉市中心医院眼科医生李文亮把一位病人检测结果的照片转发到了医学院同学的微信群里，提醒他们可能有类似“SARS”的病毒出现或传播。他还在微信群中发布了“华南水果海鲜市场确诊了7例SARS”以及“在我们医院后湖院区急诊科隔离”两段文字信息。】
2019-Dec 31 @ WMHC [Wuhan Municipal Health Commission] made the announcement public, confirming 27 cases-enough to trigger an investigation. 【武汉市卫健委首次发布情况通报，确认有27例源于华南海鲜市场的病毒性肺炎病例。此前一直有说法称市场里的野生动物交易是导致此次疫情的“罪魁祸首”。】
2020-Jan 01 @ The seafood market was closed down by Jianghan District's Health Agency and Administration for Market Regulation due to an "environment improvement." 【华南海鲜市场关停】
2020-Jan 03 @ Police from the Wuhan Public Security Bureau investigating the case interrogated Li, issued a formal written warning and censuring him for "publishing untrue statements about seven confirmed SARS cases at the Huanan Seafood Market." [Several doctors were warned by the Wuhan police for "spreading misinformation" and eight "rumormongers" who were all doctors]
2020-Jan 06/17 @ The reported case number froze at 41 during the Hubei Lianghui and Wuhan Lianghui, the local parliament sessions between January 6–17 which the local authorities of Hubei and Wuhan claimed to be due to the lack of PCR test kits for the new virus.
2020-Jan 08 @ Li contracted COVID-19 unwittingly while treating an infected patient at his hospital.
2020-Jan 10 @ the virus' genome was shared through GISAID.
2020-Jan 10/15 @ The local government of Wuhan denied any case of nosocomial infection and kept claiming that "there was no clear sign of human-to-human transmission"
2020-Jan 11 @ The first death from the new virus was reported.
2020-Jan 11 @ WHO was notified by the Chinese National Health Commission that the outbreak was associated with exposures in the market, and that China had identified a new type of coronavirus, which it isolated on 7 January.
[In early and mid-January, the virus spread to other Chinese provinces, helped by the Chinese New Year migration. Wuhan was a transport hub and major rail interchange.]
2020-Jan 12 @ Li was admitted to intensive care at Houhu Hospital District, Wuhan Central Hospital, where he was quarantined and treated.
2020-Jan 15 @ Wuhan's Municipal Health Commission (MHC) said on its website that "the result of present investigation shows no clear evidence of human-to-human transmission, but this does not rule the possibility of such a transmission out. The risk of continuous human-to-human transmission is low."
[NHC (National Health Commission) still insisted that the epidemic should be "manageable and preventable." ]
2020-Jan 19 2019年腊月二十五 @ Not much public attention was drawn to the virus outbreak. Despite the virus outbreak, over 40,000 Wuhan families joined an annual potluck banquet [万家宴] which was a community tradition observed for over two decades to celebrate the Kitchen God Festival. A community leader told The Beijing News that "everything is normal now," when asked about the virus outbreak.
2020-Jan 20 @ the Chinese National Health Commission announced that human-to-human transmission of the coronavirus had already occurred.
2020-Jan 21/22 @ Guan's team [Guan Yi, an expert in SARS epidemiology from Hong Kong] came to Wuhan on January 21 and returned to Hong Kong on the next day. He said to the media that the "epidemiology experts and scientists do not seem to be welcomed in the city."
2020-Jan 22 [2019年腊月二十八] @ According to Guan Yi, Wuhan was still "an open city" to the virus outbreak where most people did not wear a mask, although NHC announced the coronavirus-associated pneumonia as a notifiable disease. He believed that a pandemic was unavoidable as the virus spread with the migration flow of Chunyun [春运].
2020-Jan 23 @ On the early morning, the government of Wuhan announced a sudden lockdown at around 2 o'clock which said, "Since 10:00 AM on January 23, 2020, the city's bus, metro, ferry, coach services will be suspended. Without a special reason, the citizens should not leave Wuhan. Departure from the airport and railway stations will be temporarily prohibited. Recovery time of the services will be announced in a further notice. "
The central government of the People's Republic of China imposed a lockdown in Wuhan and other cities in Hubei province in an effort to quarantine the outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).
[This was the first known instance in modern history of locking a major city down of as many as 11 million people and the incident was commonly referred to in the media as the "Wuhan lockdown" [武汉封城].
2020-Jan 23 @ By January 23, 5 million Wuhan's citizens left the city for the Chinese New Year vacation while 9 million remained in the city.
2020-Jan 30 @ 7818 infections had been confirmed, leading WHO to declare the outbreak a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC).
2020-Feb 01 @ Li tested positive for the virus on 30 January and formally diagnosed with the virus infection on 1 February.
2020-Feb 02 @ Wenzhou, Zhejiang, implemented a seven-day lockdown which only one person per household was allowed to exit once each two days and most of the highway exits were closed.
2020-Feb 06 @ Li's heartbeat stopped at 21:30.
2020-Mar 11 @ WHO declared the coronavirus a pandemic.
2020-May 26 @ CCDC director George Gao indicated the Huanan Seafood Market was not the origin (animal samples had tested negative).
2020-Nov 09 @ Pfizer released trial results for a candidate vaccine, showing that 90% effectiveness against severe infection.
2020-Dec 14 Alpha variant @ Public Health England reported that a variant had been discovered in the UK's southeast, predominantly in Kent. The variant, later named Alpha, showed changes to the spike protein that could be more infectious.
2021-Jan 02 @ the Alpha variant, first discovered in the UK, had been identified in 33 countries.
2021-Jan 06 Gamma variant @ the Gamma variant was first identified in Japanese travellers returning from Brazil.
2021-May 31 Delta variant @ It was first detected in India in late 2020. The Delta variant was named on 31 May 2021 and had spread to over 179 countries by 22 November 2021. In mid-April, the variant was first detected in the UK and two months later it had metastasized into a third wave there, forcing the government to delay reopening that was originally scheduled for June.
2021-Nov 24 Omicron variant @ was detected in South Africa; a few days later the World Health Organization declared it a VoC (variant of concern). The new variant is more infectious than the Delta variant.
2021-Dec 28 @ U.S. counts more than 500,000 new COVID cases in a day, lifting the daily average to a near 1-year high
2021-Dec 29 @ COVID-19 'tidal wave': France reports over 200,000 positive cases in 24 hours
2022-Jan 05 @ New record! France reports over 330,000 positive cases in 24 hours.
2022-Jan 11 @ Breaking records! France breaks its single-day Covid case record [368,000 coronavirus cases]
2022-Feb 28 @ A COVID-19 outbreak in the city of Shanghai, China began on February 28, 2022.[1]
2022-Mar 28 @ [Shanghai_鸳鸯封城/阴阳封城] Shanghai decided to adopt "area-separated and batch-separated control" (Chinese: 分区分批防控) starting on March 28.
2022-Apr 03 @ [Shanghai_famous suicide] A Shanghai woman wanted to send her grandfather meals, but the distance between their homes was very far. She found a man to deliver the meals for her to Qingpu but did not ask for money. The next day, the woman transferred him 200 yuan by phone but was later criticized for paying too little when she shared her story online. On April 6, she committed suicide. Her parents and other online commentators called for the people who bullied her to be sued or punished.[77]
2022-Apr 05 @ [Shanghai lockdown] The lockdown was expanded to encompass the entire city, affecting the population of 25 million.
2022-Apr 06 @ [Shanghai_1st pet killing] A community guard beat a Corgi to death after refusing a request to allow the dog to be taken with the owner into isolation.
2022-Apr 22 @ [Depictions for Shanghai lockdown] A montage called The Sounds of April (四月之声) featured clips of government announcers and events such as pet-killing, child separation, and medical delays.
2022-May 11 @ [Shanghai lockdown_最后一代] "We are the last generation. thank you!"
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