COVID-19: The Viral Timeline
The COVID-19 pandemic forced the world into a “new normal,” causing the global economy to plummet. It all began on December 31, 2019. What has happened since?
BY GRACE BAUTISTA
December 31, 2019
The Wuhan Municipal Health Commission in China reported a pneumonia outbreak in Hubei Province.
A novel coronavirus strain was then identified.
January 4, 2020
The World Health Organization (WHO) announced that they have begun investigating the cluster outbreak cases of pneumonia of unknown cause in Wuhan, China. There were 44 suspected cases. Most of the affected worked at the Huanan seafood market.
January 22 to 23
Confirmed number of cases was at 580, according to China’s National Health Commission. WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus decided not to declare the outbreak as a “public health emergency of international concern” yet. Wuhan shut down public transportation, including railway stations and airports. Other Chinese cities also went into lockdown and the Forbidden City was closed. Then, the 2019-nCoV was reported in Singapore and Vietnam, and the Philippines stopped accepting
flights from Wuhan, China.
January 24 to 27
Around 500 Chinese tourists in the Philippines were flown back to Wuhan, China. Fourteen people
were under investigation in the Philippines for suspected coronavirus infection. More countries
reported cases of 2019- nCoV: the United States of America, Nepal, Australia, France, Malaysia, Canada,
Cambodia, Germany, and Sri Lanka.
February 27 to 28
Ghebreyesus advised countries to act aggressively to contain the virus as the global risk of COVID-19 spread was raised to “very high” and 46 countries had reported cases.
