Coronavirus aka COVID-19 Timeline
For clarity of how things are progressing, and as a possible interesting read in a few years time, I have decided to try and keep a record of the timeline of the COVID-19 event, in terms of local and global impact. (I will do a separate record of how it is/has affected us directly.)
17 November 2019
A letter confirmed case of Coronavirus was detected in China, it just wasn’t recognised at the time
1 December 2019
A previously unknow virus started infecting people in the Chinese City of Wuhan, people were dying.
1–18 December 2019
Seven people, who were later diagnosed with novel coronavirus, were reported; All were from Wuhan and 2 had been to the suspect markets
12 December 2019
Chinese TV began reporting on a new viral outbreak detected in Wuhan, China.
24 December 2019
Virus samples were collected for the first time for genetic testing
25 December 2019
Medical staff in some Wuhan hospitals suspected of being infected were being isolated
27 December 2019
Genetic sequencing of an earlier collected virus sample was almost complete and the data was being shared
29 December 2019
2019-nCov was identified on or around the 29 Dec from samples taken from people who worked in the Huanan Seafood Markets
30 December 2019
8 doctors were arrested for participating in a WeChat charged with “illegal acts of fabricating, spreading rumours and disrupting social order.”
Doctors were forbidden from making public any information about the virus.
31 December 2019
A Wuhan Health centre issues an “urgent notice on the treatment of pneumonia of unknown cause” , following on from this Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan all increased their border health screening checks
2 December 2019
ASX closed at 6862, up 0.2% on the day
2 January 2020
ASX closed at 6690. Up 0.1% on the day
4 January 2020
Who began tracking the situation in Wuhan and investigations began to identify the cause of this illness.
5 January 2020
WHO published its risk assessment and advice and reported on the status of patients and the public health response by national authorities to the cluster of pneumonia cases in Wuhan.
7 January 2020
France confirms first European case
10 January 2020
ASX closed at 6929, up 0.8% on the day
WHO issues first guidance on the Novel Coronavirus. It was developed with reference to other coronaviruses (SARS & MERS) and issued a tool to countries to check their ability to detect and respond to a Novel Conoravirus.
11 January 2020
China announces first death
WHO Reports case in Thailand – first case outside China
12 January 2020
China made the genome sequencing of Novel Coronavirus publicly available. The world began trying to develop a vaccine for the new virus
13 January 2020
The first case of the Novel Coronavirus confirmed outside China (In Thailand). WHO calls for active monitoring and preparedness in other countries.
16 January 2020
ASX closed at 7041, up 0.7% on the day
21 January 2020
WHO makes first field visit to Wuhan, China. They observed and discussed the strategies (temp screening at airports, etc) put in place by China and the deployment of a test kit to detect the virus.
21 January 2020
First confirmed case in the United States
23 January 2020
WHO convened the first emergency Committee meeting about the Novel Coronavirus
23 January 2020
China imposes strict lockdown in Wuhan
China imposes aggressive containment measures in Wuhan, the epicentre of the outbreak, suspending flights and trains and shutting down subways, buses and ferries in an attempt to stem the spread of the virus.
23 January 2020
ASX closed at 7088, down 0.6% on the day
Biosecurity officials began screening arrivals on the three weekly flights to Sydney from Wuhan . Passengers were given an information pamphlet and asked to present themselves if they had a fever or suspect they might have the disease.
25 January 2020
WHO launched a free online introductory course on the Novel Coronavirus, covering such things as global health threat & effective community engagement. Click the following link to go to it.
WHO_nCoV_Introductory Video from openWHO on Vimeo
25 January 2020
The first confirmed case was announced in Victoria, a Chinese national in his 50s who had travelled from Guangzhou
Later the same day, three patients were announced as testing positive in NSW. Meanwhile, six people in NSW were held under observation and confirmed to undergo hospital testing after having recently returned from Wuhan.
27 January 2020
A fifth case was announced, the fourth in the state of NSW.
28 January 2020
WHO and Chinese leadership meet in Beijing to discuss the Coronavirus outbreak. Discussion focused on containment measures, public health in other cities and provinces, studies on severity and transmissibility of the virus. All agreed for international experts to go to China to increase understanding of the virus before a global outbreak.
29 January 2020
A60-year-old Victorian resident was confirmed, the second case in Victoria. Another patient tested positive as the first case in Queensland, They were the sixth and seventh cases respectively.
30 January 2020
WHO declared a Public Health Emergency of International Concern. Only the 5th time this has ever happened. Cases had been reported in 5 WHO regions in one month. They noted that early detection, isolation and treating of cases, contact tracing and social distancing measures could all work to interrupt the virus spread.
30 January 2020
A Chinese national in Victoria was confirmed as the eighth case in the country.
A ninth case was confirmed later in the day in Queensland, becoming the second case in the state.
31 January 2020
ASX closed at 7071, up o.1% on the day
Australian Government announced foreign nationals coming from China would be required to spend a fortnight in a third country before being allowed into Australia.
At the end of Dec 2019
The WHO (World Health Organisation) was informed of an unknown pneumonia cause detected in the city of Wuhan in Hubei Province China. It was reported that some cases originated in vendors in the Huanan Seafood Market
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