When did the COVID-19 epidemic start?

The COVID-19 epidemic started in 2019.

The first patient with novel coronavirus pneumonia in Wuhan became ill on December 12, 2019. After that, patients with pneumonia of unknown causes continued to appear in some medical institutions in Wuhan. After various related virus tests, in January 2020 A new type of coronavirus was detected on the 7th, the pathogenic nucleic acid test was completed on January 10, and it was determined to be new coronavirus pneumonia on January 12.

Timeline of the COVID-19 Epidemic

December 12, 2019: The first patient became ill.

December 29, 2019: 27 patients with pneumonia similar to an unknown virus were discovered.

December 30, 2019: The expert team went to Wuhan.

December 31, 2019: The first public notification was released: among the 27 cases, 7 were in serious condition, and the remaining cases were in stable and controllable condition. Investigation into South China Seafood City (beginning to suspect game), this At that time, no obvious human-to-human transmission was found, and no medical staff was found to be infected.

On the same day, Wuhan launched a city-wide epidemiological survey.

January 3, 2020: The second report stated that it was still viral pneumonia, and the number of patients increased to 44, including 11 severe cases. It was mentioned for the first time that the work of tracing the cause of the disease has begun, and common respiratory diseases such as influenza, avian influenza, and adenovirus infection have been ruled out.

January 5, 2020: In the third notification, the number of patients increased to 59, including 7 severe patients. To rule out SARS and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), citizens are reminded to wear masks and go to medical institutions promptly if they have fever.

January 7, 2020: The fourth notification changed the description of viral pneumonia to new coronavirus pneumonia for the first time (some sources pointed out that the virus was confirmed on January 11), There are 41 cases, of which 2 have been discharged, 7 are in severe condition, and the first death occurred. At this time, there are still no cases of infection among the 419 medical staff involved.

January 11, 2020: At 20:41 pm, Caixin released a special article "Tracing the Source of Wuhan New Coronavirus", which pointed to the description of "coronavirus" and revealed that the deceased was a 61-year-old patient , the response speed of other media lags behind by about 1-2 days.

January 13, 2020: Notification of the first overseas confirmed patient. A tourist traveling from Wuhan, China to Thailand was diagnosed with the new coronavirus in Thailand on January 8 and was diagnosed with the novel coronavirus on the same day. was taken to a hospital in Thailand.

January 16, 2020: During the previous January 10-15, there were no new cases of coronavirus pneumonia in Wuhan, and the entire A-share market was also very calm.

However, the later report mentioned that on the 16th, there were 4 new cases in Wuhan, and one case was also confirmed in Japan. A Chinese man in his thirties living in Kanagawa Prefecture, Japan, had previously traveled to Wuhan, and developed fever symptoms, but - he had not been to the seafood market.

January 17, 2020: 17 new cases of coronavirus pneumonia once again attracted public attention. Lukang Pharmaceutical rose 5.4% that day. It is worth noting that these 17 cases were diagnosed due to the use of new testing kits, which indeed reflects China’s speed. At this time, a total of 62 cases of new coronavirus pneumonia have been reported, 19 cases have been cured and discharged, 8 cases are in severe condition, and 2 cases have died.

It is also worth mentioning that among these 17 cases, 9 cases are under 60 years old, 8 cases are 60 years old and above, the youngest is 30 years old, and the oldest is 79 years old - indirectly indicating that the frail people may be more susceptible to the virus.

January 18/19, 2020: There were 59 new cases on the 18th, 77 new cases on the 19th, and 136 new confirmed cases on the two days. The figures show signs of an outbreak to a certain extent, and for the first time the statements of "limited human-to-human transmission" and "low risk of sustained human-to-human transmission" are not mentioned.

January 20, 2020: After continued fermentation over the weekend, Lukang Pharmaceutical and a series of related targets hit the daily limit. South Korea has discovered its first confirmed case of the new coronavirus. Previously, there were 2 cases in Thailand and 1 case in Japan.

There have been cases of new coronavirus pneumonia in Beijing and Shenzhen, Guangdong, and 5 patients from Wuhan who came to Zhejiang and developed respiratory symptoms such as fever but have not been diagnosed have been discovered in Wenzhou, Zhoushan, Taizhou, and Hangzhou, Zhejiang.

On the evening of January 20, 2020, Academician Zhong Nanshan accepted a live interview with CCTV and mentioned:

1. Human-to-human transmission of the virus has been confirmed.

2. The virus is likely to come from wild game.

3. Wearing a mask for prevention is very important. General surgical masks can also block most viruses that stick to droplets from entering the respiratory tract.

4. It was admitted for the first time that 14 medical staff were infected.

5. The virus infection is in the climbing stage, but it is not as contagious compared to SARS.

On January 23, 2020, the Wuhan City, Hubei Province Novel Coronavirus Infection Prevention and Control Headquarters issued a notice that the city’s buses, subways, ferries, and long-distance buses were suspended. Citizens were not allowed to leave Wuhan without special reasons. At the same time, the airport and railway station departure channels from Han are temporarily closed. The recovery time will be announced later.