(UPDATED February 26, 2020)
Here’s a timeline of events since the discovery and outbreak of the 2019 novel coronavirus (now coronavirus disease or Covid 2019), from the World Health Organization (WHO) and other official sources (figures on confirmed cases and deaths are cumulative):
31 December 2019 to 3 January 2020: China informs the WHO of 44 cases of pneumonia of unknown cause, originating from the city of Wuhan in Hubei Province.
7 January 2020: The virus is isolated by Chinese authorities.
11 January to 12 January 2020: Chinese authorities trace the outbreak to a seafood market in Wuhan. Chinese authorities also identify the virus as a new type of coronavirus. According to the WHO, coronaviruses (CoV) are “a large family of viruses that cause illness ranging from the common cold to more severe diseases such as Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS-CoV) and Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS-CoV).” It says a novel coronavirus (nCoV) is a “new strain that has not been previously identified in humans.”
12 January 2020: China shares the 2019-nCoV’s genetic sequence to allow the development of specific diagnostic kits.
13 January 2020: Thailand confirms its first case of 2019-nCoV, a person with travel history from Wuhan.
15 January 2020: Japan reports its first case of 2019-nCoV, also from Wuhan.
20 January 2020: South Korea reports its first case of the 2019-nCoV. A total of 282 confirmed cases are reported in four countries: China (278 cases), Thailand (2 cases), Japan (1 case) and South Korea (1 case). Of the 278 cases in China, 258 cases are from Hubei Province, 14 from Guangdong Province, five from Beijing and one from Shanghai. Wuhan reports six deaths.
21 January 2020: Confirmed cases reach 314, of which 309 are from China, two from Thailand, one from Japan and one from South Korea. Cases in Thailand, Japan and South Korea came from Wuhan. Wuhan reports six deaths. Sixteen health workers are infected.
23 January 2020: Confirmed cases rise to 581 globally, of which 571 came from China and 375 from Hubei. Confirmed cases in Thailand, Japan, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, the United States of America and South Korea had traveled from Wuhan. Seventeen deaths, all from Hubei, are recorded.
The WHO states that the outbreak is “no longer due to ongoing exposures at the Huanan seafood market in Wuhan; as in the last one week, less than 15% of new cases reported having visited Huanan market. There is now more evidence that 2019-nCoV spreads from human-to-human and also across generations of cases. Moreover, family clusters involving persons with no reported travel to Wuhan have been reported from Guangdong Province.”
24 January 2020: Confirmed cases hit 846, of which 830 cases were from China. Eleven confirmed cases are outside China, in six countries, and 10 of the cases had traveled from Wuhan. One had a family member who had traveled from Wuhan. Twenty-five deaths are reported. The WHO reports that “[n]ew epidemiological information reinforces the evidence that the 2019-nCoVcan be transmitted from one individual to another.”
25 January 2020: The WHO reports a total of 1,320 confirmed cases globally; 1,297 cases are from China, including Hong Kong (5 confirmed cases) and Macau (2). Taiwan has three. China suspects a total of 1,965 cases. Twenty-three confirmed cases are reported in nine countries, of which 21 had traveled from Wuhan.
Australia reports that one case had direct contact with a confirmed case from Wuhan while in China.
Forty-one deaths are reported, 39 of which are from Hubei. One is from Hebei.
26 January 2020: Confirmed cases reach 2,014 worldwide; 1,985 are from China. Twenty-nine cases are reported in 10 countries, of which 26 had a travel history from Wuhan. Deaths reach 56.
27 January 2020: The WHO reports 2,798 confirmed cases, 2,741 of which are from China. Outside China, 37 cases are confirmed in 11 countries. WHO Director General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus flies to Beijing to meet government and health experts. The WHO says the virus has an incubation period of 2 to 10 days.
28 January 2020: Cases jump to 4,593, 4,537 of which came from China. Fifty-six cases are confirmed in 14 countries. A total of 106 deaths are reported. WHO officials meet with Chinese President Xi Jinping.
29 January 2020: The United Arab Emirates confirm four cases, all of them travelers from Wuhan. A total of 6,065 confirmed cases are reported, of which 5,997 are in China. Fifteen countries report 68 cases. Deaths total 132. Total confirmed cases in China exceed the total recorded cases of SARS in that country from 2002-2003.
30 January 2020: Finland, India and the Philippines report their first 2019-nCoV cases, all travelers from Wuhan. Confirmed cases hit 7,818, of which 7,736 are from China. Eighteen countries report 82 cases. A total of 170 deaths are reported.
31 January 2020: Italy confirms first two cases, all travelers from Wuhan. Confirmed cases now total 9,826 worldwide, 9,720 of which are from China. Nineteen countries confirm 106 cases. Deaths total 213. Worldwide, 2019-nCoV cases exceed the total recorded cases of SARS from 2002-2003.
1 February 2020: Worldwide, confirmed cases total 11,953, of which 11,821 are from China. Twenty-three countries report 132 cases. Deaths reach 259.
2 February 2020: The Philippines confirms its first death due to the 2019-nCoV; the first outside China. The fatality is a male companion of the first reported case, a woman. Both had traveled from Wuhan. A total of 14,557 confirmed cases globally, 14,411 confirmed in China alone. Twenty-three countries report 146 confirmed cases. The death toll reaches 305.
3 February 2020: Confirmed cases reach 17,391 globally, of which 17,238 are in China. Twenty-three countries report 153 cases. 362 deaths. Number of deaths in China, 361, exceeds the SARS death toll.
4 February 2020: Number of cases exceed 20,000; 3,241 new cases are confirmed, bringing the global total to 20,630. China alone accounts for 20,471 cases. Cases in 23 countries outside China reach 159. Number of deaths reach 426.
5 February 2020: Belgium reports its first confirmed case. Confirmed cases reach 24,554, of which China accounted for 24,363.A total of 24 countries have reported 191 cases. Deaths reach 492.
6 February 2020: 28,276 confirmed cases, of which China accounts for 28,060. 24 countries report 216 cases. Deaths reach 565.
7 February 2020: 31,481 confirmed cases, of which China accounts for 31,211. 24 countries report 270 cases. Deaths reach 638.
8 February 2020: 34,886 confirmed cases, of which China accounts for 34,598. 24 countries report 288 cases. Deaths reach 724.
Sixty-four individuals in the cruise ship Diamond Princess, harbored in Yokohama, Japan, are found to have been infected with 2019-nCoV. They are sent to medical care in infectious disease hospitals in the Yokohama area. The vessel is quarantined for a 14-day period.
9 February 2020: Death toll hits 813, surpassing the global death toll during the SARS outbreak. Confirmed cases reach 37,558, of which China accounts for 37,251. 24 countries report 307 cases.
10 February 2020: No new countries report infections. Globally, confirmed cases reach 40,554, of which China accounts for 40,235 (3,073 of them new cases). Deaths reach 910. China alone reports 97 deaths in a single day.
11 February 2020: The death toll passes the 1,000 mark. The WHO tally reaches 1,018 deaths. Confirmed cases reach 43,103 worldwide, of which China accounts for 42,708. 24 countries report 395 confirmed cases.
The WHO announces that, following “best practices for naming of new human infectious diseases, which were developed in consultation and collaboration with the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), WHO has named the disease Covid-19, short for “coronavirus disease 2019.”
12 February 2020: The UN activates a Crisis Management Team (CMT) on the Covid-19 outbreak, to be led by WHO. 45,171 confirmed cases globally, 1,115 deaths.
13 February 2020: China reports 14,840 cases overnight, including 13,332 clinically diagnosed cases from Hubei. This is the first time China reports clinically diagnosed cases in addition to laboratory-confirmed cases. The WHO continues to report only lab-confirmed cases: 46,997 cases and 1,369 deaths.
14 February 2020: The second death is reported outside of China, in Japan. The WHO says the individual did not have travel history to China. China reports that health care workers account for 1,716 confirmed cases of Covid-19, including six deaths. Globally, there are 49,053 laboratory-confirmed cases, and 1,383 deaths.
15 February 2020: Egypt reports its first confirmed case of Covid-19, the first from the the African continent. Cases reach 50,580, covering 25 countries. Deaths total 1,529.
16 February 2020: Third death is reported outside of China — an individual from China who went to France. There are 51,857 laboratory-confirmed cases and 1,669 deaths.
17 February 2020: WHO begins reporting all confirmed cases, including both laboratory-confirmed as previously reported, and those reported from Hubei as clinically diagnosed. Number of cases jump to 71,429; 1,775 deaths.
18 February 2020: Confirmed cases reach 73,332; 1,873 deaths.
19 February 2020: Number of deaths pass 2,000-mark, at 2,009. Confirmed cases reach 75,204.
20 February 2020: Iran reports two deaths. Two passengers aboard Diamond princess are also reported dead. South Korea reports its first fatality.
Confirmed cases reach 75,748. Deaths reach 2,129, including the new fatalities above.
South Korea reports 53 new cases; total jumps to 104. South Korea overtakes Singapore as the country with the most infections outside of China.
21 February 2020: Confirmed cases total 76,769. Death toll reached 2,247, including 8 deaths outside China (China-2,239, South Korea- 1, Japan-1, Philippines-1, Iran-2, France-1, Diamond Princess-2).
South Korea reports 100 new cases.
22 February 2020: Israel and Lebanon report their first Covid-19 cases. Confirmed cases reach, 77,794, including 1,402 outside China. Death toll in China hits 2,348.
South Korea reports 142 new cases.
Second death in South Korea, two new deaths in Iran bring the death toll outside of China to 11.
23 February 2020: New deaths outside of China reported – South Korea-3, Italy-2, Iran-1.
Overseas death toll now at 17 (South Korea- 5, Japan-1, Philippines-1, Italy-2, France-1, Iran-5, Diamond Princess-2).
Global confirmed cases: 78,811 in 29 countries. Global death toll hits 2,462.
Confirmed cases in South Korea jump to 602, with 256 new cases.
24 February 2020: Kuwait is the 29th country (outside of China) to report a Covid-19 infection.
Overseas death toll now at 23 (South Korea-7, Japan-1, Philippines-1, Italy-2, France-1, Iran-8, Diamond Princess-3).
Global confirmed cases reach 79,331. Global death toll hits 2,618 (2,595 in China).
South Korean cases continue to jump. 161 new cases bring total to 763.
25 February 2020: Afghanistan, Bahrain, Iraq, and Oman report Covid-19 cases for the first time.
80,239 confirmed cases globally. In China alone, 77,780 confirmed cases, and 2,666 deaths.
Outside of China, 2,459 confirmed cases in 33 countries.
Death toll outside China at 34 (South Korea-10, Japan-1, Philippines-1, Italy-6, France-1, Iran-12, Diamond Princess-3).
South Korean infections continue to rise – 214 new cases bring country total to 977.
(Refresh this page for updates.)
(PressONE.ph)