COVID-19 pandemic

COVID-19 pandemic

Animated map of confirmed 2019-nCoV cases spreading from 12 January 2020 to 9 February 2020
Date	1 December 2019–ongoing (4 years, 5 months and 3 weeks)
Location	Worldwide First identified in Wuhan, Hubei, China
Casualties
As of 9 February 2020 Officially confirmed cases: 37,596 Official deaths: 813 Affected territories: 28

An epidemic of a novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) is affecting mainland China, along with isolated cases in 28 other countries and territories. It was identified in Wuhan, the capital of China's Hubei province, after 41 people developed pneumonia without a clear cause. The virus, which causes 2019-nCoV acute respiratory disease, is capable of spreading from person to person. The incubation period (time from exposure to onset of symptoms) ranges from 2 to 14 days, but it may be contagious during this period and after recovery. Symptoms include fever, coughing and breathing difficulties. An estimate of the death rate in February 2020 was 2% of confirmed cases, higher among those who require admission to hospital. As of early February 2020 there is no vaccine and no specific treatment, but several vaccine approaches and antivirals are being investigated.

As of 9 February 2020, 37,596 cases have been confirmed (6,106 serious), including in every province-level division of China. A larger number of people may have been infected, but not detected (especially mild cases). As of 9 February 2020, 813 deaths have been attributed to the virus since the first confirmed death on 9 January, with 2,690 recoveries. The first local transmission outside China occurred in Vietnam between family members, while the first local transmission not involving family occurred in Germany, on 22 January, when a German man contracted the disease from a Chinese business visitor at a meeting. The first death outside China was reported in the Philippines, where a 44-year-old male from Wuhan died on 1 February.

In China and around the world, public health authorities are trying to contain the spread of the outbreak. The government of China has introduced travel restrictions and outdoor restrictions – requiring families to stay at home – affecting over 170 million people. A number of countries have issued warnings against travel to Wuhan, Hubei, and China generally. Travellers who have visited Mainland China have been asked to monitor their health for at least two weeks. Anyone who suspects that they are carrying the virus is advised to wear a protective mask and seek medical advice by calling a doctor rather than directly visiting a clinic in person. Airports and train stations have implemented temperature checks, health declarations and information signage in an attempt to identify carriers of the virus. Many Lunar New Year events and tourist attractions have been closed to prevent mass gatherings, including the Forbidden City in Beijing and traditional temple fairs. In 24 of China's 31 provinces, municipalities and regions, authorities announced that the New Year's holiday is extended to 10 February, instructing most workplaces not to re-open until that date. These regions represent 80% of the country's GDP and 90% of exports. Hong Kong raised its infectious disease response level to the highest and declared an emergency, closing schools until March and cancelling its New Year celebrations.

The outbreak has been declared a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC) by the World Health Organization (WHO), based on the possible effects the virus could have if it spreads to countries with weaker healthcare systems. The declaration was the sixth time that the measure has been invoked since the H1N1 pandemic in 2009. Xenophobia and racism against people of Chinese and East Asian descent has arisen as a result of the outbreak, with fear and hostility occurring in several countries. Misinformation spread primarily online about the coronavirus has led the WHO to declare an "infodemic" on 2 February.

Background

Wuhan is the capital of Hubei and is the seventh-largest city in China, with a population of more than 11 million people. It has been a major transport hub of the country throughout the ages, long known as the "Nine Provinces' Thoroughfare" (九省通衢), and the Wuhan Railway Hub is one of the four most important railway hubs in China. It is approximately 1,100 km (700 mi) south of Beijing, 800 km (500 mi) west of Shanghai, and 970 km (600 mi) north of Hong Kong. Direct international flights from Wuhan connect it to major cities in Europe and North America.

In Wuhan, during December 2019, a cluster of cases displaying the symptoms of a "pneumonia of unknown cause" was linked to Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market, which had a thousand stalls selling fish, chickens, pheasants, bats, marmots, venomous snakes, spotted deer, and other wild animals (ye wei, bushmeat). In January 2020, the hypothesis was that this was a novel coronavirus from an animal source (a zoonosis). In February 2020, the Chinese authorities have confirmed a highly pathogenic strain of the H5N1 bird flu in chickens in the Hunan province.

Coronaviruses mainly circulate among other animals but have been known to evolve and infect humans as in the cases of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) together with four further coronaviruses that cause mild respiratory symptoms similar to the common cold. 2019-nCoV's genome sequence is 75- to 80-percent identical to SARS-CoV, and more than 85-percent similar to several bat coronaviruses. All coronaviruses known to infect humans have been shown to spread between people. Transmission of coronaviruses is primarily thought to occur among close contacts via respiratory droplets generated by sneezing and coughing.

Epidemiology

Main articles: Timeline of the 2019–20 Wuhan coronavirus outbreak in December 2019 – January 2020, Timeline of the 2019–20 Wuhan coronavirus outbreak in February 2020, and 2019–20 Wuhan coronavirus outbreak by country and territory

COVID-19 cases in Mainland China  ()
     Deaths        Recoveries        Tested        Clinically diagnosed (C.D.)        Tested or C.D.

20192019202020202021202120222022

DecDec

JanJanFebFebMarMarAprAprMayMayJunJunJulJulAugAugSepSepOctOctNovNovDecDec

JanJanFebFebMarMarAprAprMayMayJunJunJulJulAugAugSepSepOctOctNovNovDecDec

JanJan

Last 15 daysLast 15 days

Date			Number of cases (excluding C.D.)	Number of cases (including C.D.)
2019-12-31				27(n.a.)
⋮				27(=)
2020-01-03				44(+63%)
2020-01-04				44(=)
2020-01-05				59(+34%)
⋮				59(=)
2020-01-10			41(n.a.)
2020-01-11			41(=)
2020-01-12			41(=)
⋮			41(=)
2020-01-15			41(=)
2020-01-16			45(+9.8%)
2020-01-17			62(+38%)
2020-01-18			121(+95%)
2020-01-19			198(+64%)
2020-01-20			291(+47%)
2020-01-21			440(+51%)
2020-01-22			571(+30%)
2020-01-23			830(+45%)
2020-01-24			1,287(+55%)
2020-01-25			1,975(+53%)
2020-01-26			2,744(+39%)
2020-01-27			4,515(+65%)
2020-01-28			5,974(+32%)
2020-01-29			7,711(+29%)
2020-01-30			9,692(+26%)
2020-01-31			11,791(+22%)
2020-02-01			14,380(+22%)
2020-02-02			17,205(+20%)
2020-02-03			20,438(+19%)
2020-02-04			24,324(+19%)
2020-02-05			28,018(+15%)
2020-02-06			31,161(+11%)
2020-02-07			34,546(+11%)
2020-02-08			37,198(+7.7%)
2020-02-09			40,171(+8%)
2020-02-10			42,638(+6.1%)	48,315(n.a.)
2020-02-11			44,653(+4.7%)	55,220(+14%)
2020-02-12			46,472(+4.1%)	58,761(+6.4%)
2020-02-13			48,467(+4.3%)	63,851(+8.7%)
2020-02-14			49,970(+3.1%)	66,492(+4.1%)
2020-02-15			51,091(+2.2%)	68,500(+3.0%)
2020-02-16				70,548(+3.0%)
2020-02-17				72,436(+2.7%)
2020-02-18				74,185(+2.4%)
2020-02-19				75,002(+1.1%)
2020-02-20				75,891(+1.2%)
2020-02-21				76,288(+0.52%)
2020-02-22				76,936(+0.85%)
2020-02-23				77,150(+0.28%)
2020-02-24				77,658(+0.66%)
2020-02-25				78,064(+0.52%)
2020-02-26				78,497(+0.55%)
2020-02-27				78,824(+0.42%)
2020-02-28				79,251(+0.54%)
2020-02-29				79,824(+0.72%)
2020-03-01				80,026(+0.25%)
2020-03-02				80,151(+0.16%)
2020-03-03				80,270(+0.15%)
2020-03-04				80,409(+0.17%)
2020-03-05				80,552(+0.18%)
2020-03-06				80,651(+0.12%)
2020-03-07				80,695(+0.05%)
2020-03-08				80,735(+0.05%)
2020-03-09				80,754(+0.02%)
2020-03-10				80,778(+0.03%)
2020-03-11				80,793(+0.02%)
2020-03-12				80,813(+0.02%)
2020-03-13				80,824(+0.01%)
2020-03-14				80,844(+0.02%)
2020-03-15				80,860(+0.02%)
2020-03-16				80,881(+0.03%)
2020-03-17				80,894(+0.02%)
2020-03-18				80,928(+0.04%)
2020-03-19				80,967(+0.05%)
2020-03-20				81,008(+0.05%)
2020-03-21				81,054(+0.06%)
2020-03-22				81,093(+0.05%)
2020-03-23				81,171(+0.1%)
2020-03-24				81,218(+0.06%)
2020-03-25				81,285(+0.08%)
2020-03-26				81,340(+0.07%)
2020-03-27				81,394(+0.07%)
2020-03-28				81,439(+0.06%)
2020-03-29				81,470(+0.04%)
2020-03-30				81,518(+0.06%)
2020-03-31				81,554(+0.04%)
2020-04-01				81,589(+0.04%)
2020-04-02				81,620(+0.04%)
2020-04-03				81,639(+0.02%)
2020-04-04				81,669(+0.04%)
2020-04-05				81,708(+0.05%)
2020-04-06				81,740(+0.04%)
2020-04-07				81,802(+0.08%)
2020-04-08				81,865(+0.08%)
2020-04-09				81,907(+0.05%)
2020-04-10				81,953(+0.06%)
2020-04-11				82,052(+0.12%)
2020-04-12				82,160(+0.13%)
2020-04-13				82,249(+0.11%)
2020-04-14				82,295(+0.06%)
2020-04-15				82,341(+0.06%)
2020-04-16				82,692(+0.43%)
2020-04-17				82,719(+0.03%)
2020-04-18				82,735(+0.02%)
2020-04-19				82,747(+0.01%)
2020-04-20				82,758(+0.01%)
2020-04-21				82,788(+0.04%)
2020-04-22				82,798(+0.01%)
2020-04-23				82,804(+0.01%)
2020-04-24				82,816(+0.01%)
2020-04-25				82,827(+0.01%)
2020-04-26				82,830(=)
2020-04-27				82,836(+0.01%)
2020-04-28				82,858(+0.03%)
2020-04-29				82,862(=)
2020-04-30				82,874(+0.01%)
2020-05-01				82,875(=)
2020-05-02				82,877(=)
2020-05-03				82,880(=)
2020-05-04				82,881(=)
2020-05-05				82,883(=)
2020-05-06				82,885(=)
2020-05-07				82,886(=)
2020-05-08				82,887(=)
2020-05-09				82,901(+0.02%)
2020-05-10				82,918(+0.02%)
2020-05-11				82,919(=)
2020-05-12				82,926(+0.01%)
2020-05-13				82,929(=)
2020-05-14				82,933(=)
2020-05-15				82,941(+0.01%)
2020-05-16				82,947(+0.01%)
2020-05-17				82,954(+0.01%)
2020-05-18				82,960(+0.01%)
2020-05-19				82,965(+0.01%)
2020-05-20				82,967(=)
2020-05-21				82,971(=)
2020-05-22				82,971(=)
2020-05-23				82,974(=)
2020-05-24				82,985(+0.01%)
2020-05-25				82,992(+0.01%)
2020-05-26				82,993(=)
2020-05-27				82,995(=)
2020-05-28				82,995(=)
2020-05-29				82,999(=)
2020-05-30				83,001(=)
2020-05-31				83,017(+0.02%)
2020-06-01				83,022(+0.01%)
2020-06-02				83,021(=)
2020-06-03				83,022(=)
2020-06-04				83,027(+0.01%)
2020-06-05				83,030(=)
2020-06-06				83,036(+0.01%)
2020-06-07				83,040(=)
2020-06-08				83,043(=)
2020-06-09				83,046(=)
2020-06-10				83,057(+0.01%)
2020-06-11				83,064(+0.01%)
2020-06-12				83,075(+0.01%)
2020-06-13				83,132(+0.07%)
2020-06-14				83,181(+0.06%)
2020-06-15				83,221(+0.05%)
2020-06-16				83,265(+0.05%)
2020-06-17				83,293(+0.03%)
2020-06-18				83,325(+0.04%)
2020-06-19				83,352(+0.03%)
2020-06-20				83,378(+0.03%)
2020-06-21				83,396(+0.02%)
2020-06-22				83,418(+0.03%)
2020-06-23				83,430(+0.01%)
2020-06-24				83,449(+0.02%)
2020-06-25				83,462(+0.02%)
2020-06-26				83,483(+0.03%)
2020-06-27				83,500(+0.02%)
2020-06-28				83,512(+0.01%)
2020-06-29				83,531(+0.02%)
2020-06-30				83,534(=)
2020-07-01				83,537(=)
2020-07-02				83,542(+0.01%)
2020-07-03				83,545(=)
2020-07-04				83,553(+0.01%)
2020-07-05				83,557(=)
2020-07-06				83,565(+0.01%)
2020-07-07				83,572(+0.01%)
2020-07-08				83,581(+0.01%)
2020-07-09				83,585(=)
2020-07-10				83,587(=)
2020-07-11				83,594(+0.01%)
2020-07-12				83,602(+0.01%)
2020-07-13				83,605(=)
2020-07-14				83,611(+0.01%)
2020-07-15				83,612(=)
2020-07-16				83,622(+0.01%)
2020-07-17				83,644(+0.03%)
2020-07-18				83,660(+0.02%)
2020-07-19				83,682(+0.03%)
2020-07-20				83,693(+0.01%)
2020-07-21				83,707(+0.02%)
2020-07-22				83,729(+0.03%)
2020-07-23				83,750(+0.03%)
2020-07-24				83,784(+0.04%)
2020-07-25				83,830(+0.05%)
2020-07-26				83,891(+0.07%)
2020-07-27				83,959(+0.08%)
2020-07-28				84,060(+0.12%)
2020-07-29				84,165(+0.12%)
2020-07-30				84,292(+0.15%)
2020-07-31				84,337(+0.05%)
2020-08-01				84,385(+0.06%)
2020-08-02				84,428(+0.05%)
2020-08-03				84,464(+0.04%)
2020-08-04				84,491(+0.03%)
2020-08-05				84,528(+0.04%)
2020-08-06				84,565(+0.04%)
2020-08-07				84,596(+0.04%)
2020-08-08				84,619(+0.03%)
2020-08-09				84,668(+0.06%)
2020-08-10				84,712(+0.05%)
2020-08-11				84,737(+0.03%)
2020-08-12				84,756(+0.02%)
2020-08-13				84,786(+0.04%)
2020-08-14				84,808(+0.03%)
2020-08-15				84,827(+0.02%)
2020-08-16				84,849(+0.03%)
2020-08-17				84,871(+0.03%)
2020-08-18				84,888(+0.02%)
2020-08-19				84,895(+0.01%)
2020-08-20				84,917(+0.03%)
2020-08-21				84,939(+0.03%)
2020-08-22				84,951(+0.01%)
2020-08-23				84,967(+0.02%)
2020-08-24				84,981(+0.02%)
2020-08-25				84,996(+0.02%)
2020-08-26				85,004(+0.01%)
2020-08-27				85,013(+0.01%)
2020-08-28				85,022(+0.01%)
2020-08-29				85,031(+0.01%)
2020-08-30				85,048(+0.02%)
2020-08-31				85,058(+0.01%)
2020-09-01				85,066(+0.01%)
2020-09-02				85,077(+0.01%)
2020-09-03				85,102(+0.03%)
2020-09-04				85,112(+0.01%)
2020-09-05				85,122(+0.01%)
2020-09-06				85,134(+0.01%)
2020-09-07				85,144(+0.01%)
2020-09-08				85,146(=)
2020-09-09				85,153(+0.01%)
2020-09-10				85,168(+0.02%)
2020-09-11				85,174(+0.01%)
2020-09-12				85,184(+0.01%)
2020-09-13				85,194(+0.01%)
2020-09-14				85,202(+0.01%)
2020-09-15				85,214(+0.01%)
2020-09-16				85,223(+0.01%)
2020-09-17				85,255(+0.04%)
2020-09-18				85,269(+0.02%)
2020-09-19				85,279(+0.01%)
2020-09-20				85,291(+0.01%)
2020-09-21				85,297(+0.01%)
2020-09-22				85,307(+0.01%)
2020-09-23				85,314(+0.01%)
2020-09-24				85,322(+0.01%)
2020-09-25				85,337(+0.02%)
2020-09-26				85,351(+0.02%)
2020-09-27				85,372(+0.02%)
2020-09-28				85,384(+0.01%)
2020-09-29				85,403(+0.02%)
2020-09-30				85,414(+0.01%)
2020-10-01				85,424(+0.01%)
2020-10-02				85,434(+0.01%)
2020-10-03				85,450(+0.02%)
2020-10-04				85,470(+0.02%)
2020-10-05				85,482(+0.01%)
2020-10-06				85,489(+0.01%)
2020-10-07				85,500(+0.01%)
2020-10-08				85,521(+0.02%)
2020-10-09				85,536(+0.02%)
2020-10-10				85,557(+0.02%)
2020-10-11				85,578(+0.02%)
2020-10-12				85,591(+0.02%)
2020-10-13				85,611(+0.02%)
2020-10-14				85,622(+0.01%)
2020-10-15				85,646(+0.03%)
2020-10-16				85,659(+0.02%)
2020-10-17				85,672(+0.02%)
2020-10-18				85,685(+0.02%)
2020-10-19				85,704(+0.02%)
2020-10-20				85,715(+0.01%)
2020-10-21				85,729(+0.02%)
2020-10-22				85,747(+0.02%)
2020-10-23				85,775(+0.03%)
2020-10-24				85,790(+0.02%)
2020-10-25				85,810(+0.02%)
2020-10-26				85,826(+0.02%)
2020-10-27				85,868(+0.05%)
2020-10-28				85,915(+0.05%)
2020-10-29				85,940(+0.03%)
2020-10-30				85,973(+0.04%)
2020-10-31				85,997(+0.03%)
2020-11-01				86,021(+0.03%)
2020-11-02				86,070(+0.06%)
2020-11-03				86,087(+0.02%)
2020-11-04				86,115(+0.03%)
2020-11-05				86,151(+0.04%)
2020-11-06				86,184(+0.04%)
2020-11-07				86,212(+0.03%)
2020-11-08				86,245(+0.04%)
2020-11-09				86,267(+0.03%)
2020-11-10				86,284(+0.02%)
2020-11-11				86,299(+0.02%)
2020-11-12				86,307(+0.01%)
2020-11-13				86,325(+0.02%)
2020-11-14				86,338(+0.02%)
2020-11-15				86,346(+0.01%)
2020-11-16				86,361(+0.02%)
2020-11-17				86,369(+0.01%)
2020-11-18				86,381(+0.01%)
2020-11-19				86,398(+0.02%)
2020-11-20				86,414(+0.02%)
2020-11-21				86,431(+0.02%)
2020-11-22				86,442(+0.01%)
2020-11-23				86,464(+0.03%)
2020-11-24				86,469(+0.01%)
2020-11-25				86,490(+0.02%)
2020-11-26				86,495(+0.01%)
2020-11-27				86,501(+0.01%)
2020-11-28				86,512(+0.01%)
2020-11-29				86,530(+0.02%)
2020-11-30				86,542(+0.01%)
2020-12-01				86,551(+0.01%)
2020-12-02				86,567(+0.02%)
2020-12-03				86,584(+0.02%)
2020-12-04				86,601(+0.02%)
2020-12-05				86,619(+0.02%)
2020-12-06				86,634(+0.02%)
2020-12-07				86,646(+0.01%)
2020-12-08				86,661(+0.02%)
2020-12-09				86,673(+0.01%)
2020-12-10				86,688(+0.02%)
2020-12-11				86,701(+0.01%)
2020-12-12				86,725(+0.03%)
2020-12-13				86,741(+0.02%)
2020-12-14				86,758(+0.02%)
2020-12-15				86,770(+0.01%)
2020-12-16				86,777(+0.01%)
2020-12-17				86,789(+0.01%)
2020-12-18				86,806(+0.02%)
2020-12-19				86,829(+0.03%)
2020-12-20				86,852(+0.03%)
2020-12-21				86,867(+0.02%)
2020-12-22				86,882(+0.02%)
2020-12-23				86,899(+0.02%)
2020-12-24				86,913(+0.02%)
2020-12-25				86,933(+0.02%)
2020-12-26				86,955(+0.03%)
2020-12-27				86,976(+0.02%)
2020-12-28				87,003(+0.03%)
2020-12-29				87,027(+0.03%)
2020-12-30				87,052(+0.03%)
2020-12-31				87,071(+0.02%)
2021-01-01				87,093(+0.03%)
2021-01-02				87,117(+0.03%)
2021-01-03				87,150(+0.04%)
2021-01-04				87,183(+0.04%)
2021-01-05				87,215(+0.04%)
2021-01-06				87,278(+0.07%)
2021-01-07				87,331(+0.06%)
2021-01-08				87,364(+0.04%)
2021-01-09				87,433(+0.08%)
2021-01-10				87,536(+0.12%)
2021-01-11				87,591(+0.06%)
2021-01-12				87,706(+0.13%)
2021-01-13				87,844(+0.16%)
2021-01-14				87,988(+0.16%)
2021-01-15				88,118(+0.15%)
2021-01-16				88,227(+0.12%)
2021-01-17				88,336(+0.12%)
2021-01-18				88,454(+0.13%)
2021-01-19				88,557(+0.12%)
2021-01-20				88,701(+0.16%)
2021-01-21				88,804(+0.12%)
2021-01-22				88,911(+0.12%)
2021-01-23				88,991(+0.09%)
2021-01-24				89,115(+0.14%)
2021-01-25				89,197(+0.09%)
2021-01-26				89,272(+0.08%)
2021-01-27				89,326(+0.06%)
2021-01-28				89,378(+0.06%)
2021-01-29				89,430(+0.06%)
2021-01-30				89,522(+0.1%)
2021-01-31				89,564(+0.05%)
2021-02-01				89,594(+0.03%)
2021-02-02				89,619(+0.03%)
2021-02-03				89,649(+0.03%)
2021-02-04				89,669(+0.02%)
2021-02-05				89,681(+0.01%)
2021-02-06				89,692(+0.01%)
2021-02-07				89,706(+0.02%)
2021-02-08				89,720(+0.02%)
2021-02-09				89,734(+0.02%)
2021-02-10				89,736(=)
2021-02-11				89,748(+0.01%)
2021-02-12				89,756(+0.01%)
2021-02-13				89,763(+0.01%)
2021-02-14				89,772(+0.01%)
2021-02-15				89,788(+0.02%)
2021-02-16				89,795(+0.01%)
2021-02-17				89,806(+0.01%)
2021-02-18				89,816(+0.01%)
2021-02-19				89,824(+0.01%)
2021-02-20				89,831(+0.01%)
2021-02-21				89,842(+0.01%)
2021-02-22				89,852(+0.01%)
2021-02-23				89,864(+0.01%)
2021-02-24				89,871(+0.01%)
2021-02-25				89,877(+0.01%)
2021-02-26				89,887(+0.01%)
2021-02-27				89,893(+0.01%)
2021-02-28				89,912(+0.02%)
2021-03-01				89,923(+0.01%)
2021-03-02				89,933(+0.01%)
2021-03-03				89,943(+0.01%)
2021-03-04				89,952(+0.01%)
2021-03-05				89,962(+0.01%)
2021-03-06				89,975(+0.01%)
2021-03-07				89,994(+0.02%)
2021-03-08				90,002(+0.01%)
2021-03-09				90,007(+0.01%)
2021-03-10				90,018(+0.01%)
2021-03-11				90,027(+0.01%)
2021-03-12				90,034(+0.01%)
2021-03-13				90,044(+0.01%)
2021-03-14				90,049(+0.01%)
2021-03-15				90,062(+0.01%)
2021-03-16				90,066(=)
2021-03-17				90,072(+0.01%)
2021-03-18				90,083(+0.01%)
2021-03-19				90,087(=)
2021-03-20				90,099(+0.01%)
2021-03-21				90,106(+0.01%)
2021-03-22				90,115(+0.01%)
2021-03-23				90,125(+0.01%)
2021-03-24				90,136(+0.01%)
2021-03-25				90,147(+0.01%)
2021-03-26				90,159(+0.01%)
2021-03-27				90,167(+0.01%)
2021-03-28				90,182(+0.02%)
2021-03-29				90,190(+0.01%)
2021-03-30				90,201(+0.01%)
2021-03-31				90,217(+0.02%)
2021-04-01				90,226(+0.01%)
2021-04-02				90,252(+0.03%)
2021-04-03				90,273(+0.02%)
2021-04-04				90,305(+0.04%)
2021-04-05				90,329(+0.03%)
2021-04-06				90,341(+0.01%)
2021-04-07				90,365(+0.03%)
2021-04-08				90,386(+0.02%)
2021-04-09				90,400(+0.02%)
2021-04-10				90,410(+0.01%)
2021-04-11				90,426(+0.02%)
2021-04-12				90,435(+0.01%)
2021-04-13				90,447(+0.01%)
2021-04-14				90,457(+0.01%)
2021-04-15				90,468(+0.01%)
2021-04-16				90,483(+0.02%)
2021-04-17				90,499(+0.02%)
2021-04-18				90,510(+0.01%)
2021-04-19				90,520(+0.01%)
2021-04-20				90,541(+0.02%)
2021-04-21				90,547(+0.01%)
2021-04-22				90,566(+0.02%)
2021-04-23				90,575(+0.01%)
2021-04-24				90,588(+0.01%)
2021-04-25				90,599(+0.01%)
2021-04-26				90,610(+0.01%)
2021-04-27				90,622(+0.01%)
2021-04-28				90,642(+0.02%)
2021-04-29				90,655(+0.01%)
2021-04-30				90,671(+0.02%)
2021-05-01				90,686(+0.02%)
2021-05-02				90,697(+0.01%)
2021-05-03				90,714(+0.02%)
2021-05-04				90,721(+0.01%)
2021-05-05				90,726(+0.01%)
2021-05-06				90,739(+0.01%)
2021-05-07				90,746(+0.01%)
2021-05-08				90,758(+0.01%)
2021-05-09				90,769(+0.01%)
2021-05-10				90,783(+0.02%)
2021-05-11				90,799(+0.02%)
2021-05-12				90,808(+0.01%)
2021-05-13				90,815(+0.01%)
2021-05-14				90,829(+0.02%)
2021-05-15				90,847(+0.02%)
2021-05-16				90,872(+0.03%)
2021-05-17				90,894(+0.02%)
2021-05-18				90,908(+0.02%)
2021-05-19				90,920(+0.01%)
2021-05-20				90,944(+0.03%)
2021-05-21				90,954(+0.01%)
2021-05-22				90,973(+0.02%)
2021-05-23				90,991(+0.02%)
2021-05-24				91,006(+0.02%)
2021-05-25				91,019(+0.01%)
2021-05-26				91,038(+0.02%)
2021-05-27				91,045(+0.01%)
2021-05-28				91,061(+0.02%)
2021-05-29				91,072(+0.01%)
2021-05-30				91,099(+0.03%)
2021-05-31				91,122(+0.03%)
2021-06-01				91,146(+0.03%)
2021-06-02				91,170(+0.03%)
2021-06-03				91,194(+0.03%)
2021-06-04				91,218(+0.03%)
2021-06-05				91,248(+0.03%)
2021-06-06				91,267(+0.02%)
2021-06-07				91,300(+0.04%)
2021-06-08				91,316(+0.02%)
2021-06-09				91,337(+0.02%)
2021-06-10				91,359(+0.02%)
2021-06-11				91,394(+0.04%)
2021-06-12				91,428(+0.04%)
2021-06-13				91,451(+0.03%)
2021-06-14				91,471(+0.02%)
2021-06-15				91,492(+0.02%)
2021-06-16				91,511(+0.02%)
2021-06-17				91,534(+0.03%)
2021-06-18				91,564(+0.03%)
2021-06-19				91,587(+0.03%)
2021-06-20				91,604(+0.02%)
2021-06-21				91,629(+0.03%)
2021-06-22				91,653(+0.03%)
2021-06-23				91,669(+0.02%)
2021-06-24				91,693(+0.03%)
2021-06-25				91,718(+0.03%)
2021-06-26				91,732(+0.02%)
2021-06-27				91,753(+0.02%)
2021-06-28				91,771(+0.02%)
2021-06-29				91,780(+0.01%)
2021-06-30				91,792(+0.01%)
2021-07-01				91,810(+0.02%)
2021-07-02				91,833(+0.03%)
2021-07-03				91,847(+0.02%)
2021-07-04				91,869(+0.02%)
2021-07-05				91,892(+0.03%)
2021-07-06				91,949(+0.06%)
2021-07-07				91,966(+0.02%)
2021-07-08				91,989(+0.03%)
2021-07-09				92,015(+0.03%)
2021-07-10				92,039(+0.03%)
2021-07-11				92,066(+0.03%)
2021-07-12				92,095(+0.03%)
2021-07-13				92,119(+0.03%)
2021-07-14				92,147(+0.03%)
2021-07-15				92,183(+0.04%)
2021-07-16				92,213(+0.03%)
2021-07-17				92,246(+0.04%)
2021-07-18				92,277(+0.03%)
2021-07-19				92,342(+0.07%)
2021-07-20				92,364(+0.02%)
2021-07-21				92,414(+0.05%)
2021-07-22				92,462(+0.05%)
2021-07-23				92,497(+0.04%)
2021-07-24				92,529(+0.03%)
2021-07-25				92,605(+0.08%)
2021-07-26				92,676(+0.08%)
2021-07-27				92,762(+0.09%)
2021-07-28				92,811(+0.05%)
2021-07-29				92,875(+0.07%)
2021-07-30				92,930(+0.06%)
2021-07-31				93,005(+0.08%)
2021-08-01				93,103(+0.11%)
2021-08-02				93,193(+0.1%)
2021-08-03				93,289(+0.1%)
2021-08-04				93,374(+0.09%)
2021-08-05				93,498(+0.13%)
2021-08-06				93,605(+0.11%)
2021-08-07				93,701(+0.1%)
2021-08-08				93,826(+0.13%)
2021-08-09				93,969(+0.15%)
2021-08-10				94,080(+0.12%)
2021-08-11				94,161(+0.09%)
2021-08-12				94,260(+0.11%)
2021-08-13				94,326(+0.07%)
2021-08-14				94,379(+0.06%)
2021-08-15				94,430(+0.05%)
2021-08-16				94,472(+0.04%)
2021-08-17				94,500(+0.03%)
2021-08-18				94,546(+0.05%)
2021-08-19				94,579(+0.03%)
2021-08-20				94,599(+0.02%)
2021-08-21				94,631(+0.03%)
2021-08-22				94,652(+0.02%)
2021-08-23				94,687(+0.04%)
2021-08-24				94,707(+0.02%)
2021-08-25				94,733(+0.03%)
2021-08-26				94,765(+0.03%)
2021-08-27				94,786(+0.02%)
2021-08-28				94,819(+0.03%)
2021-08-29				94,842(+0.02%)
2021-08-30				94,879(+0.04%)
2021-08-31				94,898(+0.02%)
2021-09-01				94,926(+0.03%)
2021-09-02				94,954(+0.03%)
2021-09-03				94,982(+0.03%)
2021-09-04				95,010(+0.03%)
2021-09-05				95,028(+0.02%)
2021-09-06				95,064(+0.04%)
2021-09-07				95,083(+0.02%)
2021-09-08				95,111(+0.03%)
2021-09-09				95,128(+0.02%)
2021-09-10				95,153(+0.03%)
2021-09-11				95,199(+0.05%)
2021-09-12				95,248(+0.05%)
2021-09-13				95,340(+0.1%)
2021-09-14				95,413(+0.08%)
2021-09-15				95,493(+0.08%)
2021-09-16				95,577(+0.09%)
2021-09-17				95,623(+0.05%)
2021-09-18				95,689(+0.07%)
2021-09-19				95,738(+0.05%)
2021-09-20				95,810(+0.08%)
2021-09-21				95,851(+0.04%)
2021-09-22				95,894(+0.04%)
2021-09-23				95,948(+0.06%)
2021-09-24				95,986(+0.04%)
2021-09-25				96,015(+0.03%)
2021-09-26				96,050(+0.04%)
2021-09-27				96,081(+0.03%)
2021-09-28				96,106(+0.03%)
2021-09-29				96,128(+0.02%)
2021-09-30				96,162(+0.04%)
2021-10-01				96,203(+0.04%)
2021-10-02				96,231(+0.03%)
2021-10-03				96,258(+0.03%)
2021-10-04				96,284(+0.03%)
2021-10-05				96,310(+0.03%)
2021-10-06				96,335(+0.03%)
2021-10-07				96,357(+0.02%)
2021-10-08				96,374(+0.02%)
2021-10-09				96,398(+0.02%)
2021-10-10				96,423(+0.03%)
2021-10-11				96,435(+0.01%)
2021-10-12				96,457(+0.02%)
2021-10-13				96,478(+0.02%)
2021-10-14				96,488(+0.01%)
2021-10-15				96,502(+0.01%)
2021-10-16				96,522(+0.02%)
2021-10-17				96,546(+0.02%)
2021-10-18				96,571(+0.03%)
2021-10-19				96,601(+0.03%)
2021-10-20				96,622(+0.02%)
2021-10-21				96,665(+0.04%)
2021-10-22				96,715(+0.05%)
2021-10-23				96,758(+0.04%)
2021-10-24				96,797(+0.04%)
2021-10-25				96,840(+0.04%)
2021-10-26				96,899(+0.06%)
2021-10-27				96,938(+0.04%)
2021-10-28				97,002(+0.07%)
2021-10-29				97,080(+0.08%)
2021-10-30				97,151(+0.07%)
2021-10-31				97,243(+0.09%)
2021-11-01				97,314(+0.07%)
2021-11-02				97,423(+0.11%)
2021-11-03				97,527(+0.11%)
2021-11-04				97,605(+0.08%)
2021-11-05				97,660(+0.06%)
2021-11-06				97,734(+0.08%)
2021-11-07				97,823(+0.09%)
2021-11-08				97,885(+0.06%)
2021-11-09				97,939(+0.06%)
2021-11-10				98,001(+0.06%)
2021-11-11				98,099(+0.1%)
2021-11-12				98,174(+0.08%)
2021-11-13				98,263(+0.09%)
2021-11-14				98,315(+0.05%)
2021-11-15				98,337(+0.02%)
2021-11-16				98,368(+0.03%)
2021-11-17				98,403(+0.04%)
2021-11-18				98,427(+0.02%)
2021-11-19				98,450(+0.02%)
2021-11-20				98,467(+0.02%)
2021-11-21				98,505(+0.04%)
2021-11-22				98,524(+0.02%)
2021-11-23				98,546(+0.02%)
2021-11-24				98,570(+0.02%)
2021-11-25				98,583(+0.01%)
2021-11-26				98,608(+0.03%)
2021-11-27				98,631(+0.02%)
2021-11-28				98,672(+0.04%)
2021-11-29				98,711(+0.04%)
2021-11-30				98,824(+0.11%)
2021-12-01				98,897(+0.07%)
2021-12-02				98,993(+0.1%)
2021-12-03				99,083(+0.09%)
2021-12-04				99,142(+0.06%)
2021-12-05				99,203(+0.06%)
2021-12-06				99,297(+0.09%)
2021-12-07				99,371(+0.07%)
2021-12-08				99,454(+0.08%)
2021-12-09				99,517(+0.06%)
2021-12-10				99,604(+0.09%)
2021-12-11				99,679(+0.08%)
2021-12-12				99,780(+0.1%)
2021-12-13				99,856(+0.08%)
2021-12-14				99,923(+0.07%)
2021-12-15				100,000(+0.08%)
2021-12-16				100,076(+0.08%)
2021-12-17				100,201(+0.12%)
2021-12-18				100,284(+0.08%)
2021-12-19				100,386(+0.1%)
2021-12-20				100,467(+0.08%)
2021-12-21				100,544(+0.08%)
2021-12-22				100,644(+0.1%)
2021-12-23				100,731(+0.09%)
2021-12-24				100,871(+0.14%)
2021-12-25				101,077(+0.2%)
2021-12-26				101,277(+0.2%)
2021-12-27				101,486(+0.21%)
2021-12-28				101,683(+0.19%)
2021-12-29				101,890(+0.2%)
2021-12-30				102,083(+0.19%)
2021-12-31				102,314(+0.23%)
2022-01-01				102,505(+0.19%)
2022-01-02				102,666(+0.16%)
2022-01-03				102,841(+0.17%)
2022-01-04				102,932(+0.09%)
2022-01-05				103,121(+0.18%)
2022-01-06				103,295(+0.17%)
2022-01-07				103,454(+0.15%)
2022-01-08				103,619(+0.16%)
2022-01-09				103,776(+0.15%)
2022-01-10				103,968(+0.19%)
2022-01-11				104,189(+0.21%)
2022-01-12				104,379(+0.18%)
2022-01-13				104,580(+0.19%)
2022-01-14				104,745(+0.16%)
2022-01-15				104,864(+0.11%)
2022-01-16				105,087(+0.21%)
2022-01-17				105,258(+0.16%)
2022-01-18				105,345(+0.08%)
2022-01-19				105,411(+0.06%)
2022-01-20				105,484(+0.07%)
2022-01-21				105,547(+0.06%)
2022-01-22				105,603(+0.05%)
2022-01-23				105,660(+0.05%)
2022-01-24				105,705(+0.04%)
2022-01-25				105,749(+0.04%)
2022-01-26				105,811(+0.06%)
2022-01-27				105,875(+0.06%)
2022-01-28				105,934(+0.06%)
2022-01-29				106,015(+0.08%)
2022-01-30				106,073(+0.05%)
2022-01-31				106,139(+0.06%)
From 10 February 2020 onwards, the data includes the cases in Hubei that were not tested for the virus but clinically diagnosed based on medical imaging showing signs of pneumonia. The lab-tested data was also separately available for 10–15 February 2020. Data from 16 February 2020 onwards did not include a separate number of lab-tested cases. From 19 February 2020 onwards, only new lab-tested cases were counted towards the total (but clinically diagnosed cases counted earlier were not discarded). On 17 April 2020, following the Wuhan government's issuance of a report on accounting for COVID-19 deaths that occurred at home that went previously unreported, as well as the subtraction of deaths that were previously double-counted by different hospitals, the NHC revised their cumulative totals dating to 16 April, adding 325 cumulative cases and 1,290 deaths. Data sourced from NHC daily reports. (In another link before January 25, on Wuhan MHC website before January 10)

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Updated May 21, 2024.

COVID-19 pandemic by location

	Location	Cases	Deaths
	World	775,431,255	7,047,741
	European Union	185,636,059	1,261,370
	United States	103,436,829	1,186,984
	China	99,354,727	122,196
	India	45,037,776	533,589
	France	38,997,490	168,091
	Germany	38,437,756	174,979
	Brazil	37,519,960	702,116
	South Korea	34,571,873	35,934
	Japan	33,803,572	74,694
	Italy	26,721,656	197,001
	United Kingdom	24,924,986	232,112
	Russia	24,158,502	402,821
	Turkey	17,004,714	101,419
	Spain	13,980,340	121,852
	Australia	11,846,355	25,166
	Vietnam	11,624,000	43,206
	Argentina	10,131,586	130,857
	Taiwan	9,970,937	17,672
	Netherlands	8,636,201	22,986
	Mexico	7,709,747	335,011
	Iran	7,627,863	146,837
	Indonesia	6,828,993	162,058
	Poland	6,662,631	120,711
	Colombia	6,385,309	142,727
	Austria	6,082,347	22,534
	Portugal	5,643,528	28,151
	Greece	5,633,376	39,007
	Ukraine	5,531,524	109,920
	Chile	5,399,992	62,698
	Malaysia	5,281,323	37,350
	Belgium	4,861,717	34,339
	Israel	4,841,558	12,707
	Canada	4,791,646	54,329
	Thailand	4,776,096	34,614
	Czech Republic	4,759,288	43,503
	Peru	4,524,748	220,831
	Switzerland	4,453,663	14,188
	Philippines	4,140,383	66,864
	South Africa	4,072,681	102,595
	Romania	3,528,662	68,800
	Denmark	3,435,018	9,667
	Singapore	3,006,155	2,024
	Hong Kong	2,876,106	13,466
	Sweden	2,751,819	27,279
	New Zealand	2,587,178	3,976
	Serbia	2,583,470	18,057
	Iraq	2,465,545	25,375
	Hungary	2,230,381	49,051
	Bangladesh	2,050,060	29,494
	Slovakia	1,877,741	21,226
	Georgia	1,862,754	17,150
	Jordan	1,746,997	14,122
	Republic of Ireland	1,736,068	9,604
	Pakistan	1,580,631	30,656
	Norway	1,507,568	5,732
	Kazakhstan	1,503,687	19,072
	Finland	1,499,712	11,466
	Lithuania	1,366,278	9,805
	Slovenia	1,355,887	10,056
	Bulgaria	1,329,266	38,700
	Croatia	1,316,958	18,752
	Morocco	1,279,115	16,305
	Puerto Rico	1,252,713	5,938
	Guatemala	1,250,355	20,215
	Lebanon	1,239,904	10,947
	Costa Rica	1,230,653	9,368
	Bolivia	1,212,131	22,387
	Tunisia	1,153,361	29,423
	Cuba	1,113,662	8,530
	Ecuador	1,076,087	36,048
	United Arab Emirates	1,067,030	2,349
	Panama	1,044,336	8,704
	Uruguay	1,037,893	7,625
	Mongolia	1,011,469	2,136
	Nepal	1,003,450	12,031
	Belarus	994,037	7,118
	Latvia	977,701	7,465
	Saudi Arabia	841,469	9,646
	Azerbaijan	835,371	10,353
	Paraguay	735,759	19,880
	Palestine	703,228	5,708
	Bahrain	696,614	1,536
	Cyprus	691,072	1,442
	Sri Lanka	672,754	16,899
	Kuwait	667,290	2,570
	Dominican Republic	661,103	4,384
	Myanmar	642,138	19,494
	Moldova	635,631	12,235
	Estonia	610,366	2,998
	Venezuela	552,695	5,856
	Egypt	516,023	24,830
	Qatar	514,524	690
	Libya	507,269	6,437
	Ethiopia	501,167	7,574
	Réunion	494,595	921
	Honduras	472,789	11,114
	Armenia	451,831	8,777
	Bosnia and Herzegovina	403,638	16,388
	Oman	399,449	4,628
	Luxembourg	391,378	1,000
	North Macedonia	350,589	9,977
	Zambia	349,635	4,069
	Kenya	344,101	5,689
	Brunei	344,020	178
	Albania	334,863	3,605
	Botswana	330,650	2,801
	Mauritius	327,305	1,070
	Kosovo	274,279	3,212
	Algeria	272,027	6,881
	Nigeria	267,188	3,155
	Zimbabwe	266,362	5,740
	Montenegro	251,280	2,654
	Afghanistan	235,214	7,998
	Mozambique	233,794	2,252
	Martinique	230,354	1,104
	Laos	219,038	671
	Iceland	209,938	186
	Guadeloupe	203,235	1,021
	El Salvador	201,865	4,230
	Trinidad and Tobago	191,496	4,390
	Maldives	186,694	316
	Uzbekistan	175,081	1,016
	Namibia	172,404	4,108
	Uganda	172,149	3,632
	Ghana	172,003	1,462
	Jamaica	156,822	3,600
	Cambodia	139,117	3,056
	Rwanda	133,235	1,468
	Cameroon	125,207	1,974
	Malta	121,422	905
	Barbados	110,615	593
	Angola	107,423	1,937
	Democratic Republic of the Congo	100,566	1,470
	French Guiana	98,041	413
	Malawi	89,168	2,686
	Senegal	89,077	1,971
	Kyrgyzstan	88,953	1,024
	Ivory Coast	88,425	835
	Suriname	82,496	1,405
	New Caledonia	80,064	314
	French Polynesia	79,302	650
	Eswatini	75,191	1,427
	Guyana	74,125	1,301
	Belize	71,409	688
	Fiji	69,047	885
	Madagascar	68,525	1,427
	Jersey	66,391	161
	Cabo Verde	64,474	417
	Sudan	63,993	5,046
	Mauritania	63,854	997
	Bhutan	62,697	21
	Syria	57,423	3,163
	Burundi	54,569	15
	Guam	52,287	419
	Seychelles	51,686	172
	Gabon	49,051	307
	Andorra	48,015	159
	Papua New Guinea	46,864	670
	Curaçao	45,883	305
	Aruba	44,224	292
	Tanzania	43,225	846
	Mayotte	42,027	187
	Togo	39,530	290
	Guinea	38,572	468
	Bahamas	38,084	844
	Isle of Man	38,008	116
	Lesotho	36,138	709
	Guernsey	35,326	67
	Faroe Islands	34,658	28
	Haiti	34,298	860
	Mali	33,164	743
	Cayman Islands	31,472	37
	Saint Lucia	30,252	410
	Benin	28,036	163
	Somalia	27,334	1,361
	Federated States of Micronesia	26,547	65
	Solomon Islands	25,954	199
	United States Virgin Islands	25,389	132
	San Marino	25,292	126
	Republic of the Congo	25,219	389
	Timor-Leste	23,460	138
	Burkina Faso	22,122	400
	Liechtenstein	21,576	89
	Gibraltar	20,550	113
	Grenada	19,693	238
	Bermuda	18,860	165
	South Sudan	18,823	147
	Tajikistan	17,786	125
	Monaco	17,181	67
	Equatorial Guinea	17,130	183
	Samoa	17,057	31
	Tonga	16,958	12
	Marshall Islands	16,178	17
	Nicaragua	16,143	245
	Dominica	16,047	74
	Djibouti	15,690	189
	Central African Republic	15,466	113
	Northern Mariana Islands	14,656	41
	Gambia	12,626	372
	Collectivity of Saint Martin	12,324	46
	Vanuatu	12,019	14
	Greenland	11,971	21
	Yemen	11,945	2,159
	Caribbean Netherlands	11,922	41
	Sint Maarten	11,051	92
	Eritrea	10,189	103
	Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	9,674	124
	Guinea-Bissau	9,614	177
	Niger	9,515	315
	Comoros	9,109	160
	Antigua and Barbuda	9,106	146
	American Samoa	8,359	34
	Liberia	7,930	294
	Sierra Leone	7,818	125
	Chad	7,702	194
	British Virgin Islands	7,420	64
	Cook Islands	7,326	2
	Sao Tome and Principe	6,771	80
	Turks and Caicos Islands	6,754	40
	Saint Kitts and Nevis	6,607	46
	Palau	6,332	10
	Saint Barthélemy	5,507	5
	Nauru	5,393	1
	Kiribati	5,085	24
	Anguilla	3,904	12
	Wallis and Futuna	3,760	9
	Macau	3,514	121
	Saint Pierre and Miquelon	3,426	2
	Tuvalu	2,943	1
	Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha	2,166	—
	Falkland Islands	1,923	—
	Montserrat	1,403	8
	Niue	1,074	—
	Tokelau	80	0
	Vatican City	26	0
	Pitcairn Islands	4	—
	North Korea	1	6
	Turkmenistan	0	0

Of the first 41 confirmed cases of 2019-nCoV infection, two-thirds were found to have a link with the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market, which also sold live animals. The earliest reported symptoms occurred 1 December 2019, in a person who did not have any exposure to the market or to the remaining 40 affected people. Of cases that began before 1 January 2020, 55% were linked to the market. By 22 January, this figure was reported to have dropped to 8.6%. Hence, as the number of cases have increased, the significance of the market has lessened.

During the early stages, the number of cases doubled approximately every seven and a half days In early and mid-January 2020, the virus spread to other Chinese provinces, helped by the Chinese new year migration. On 20 January, China reported a sharp rise in cases with nearly 140 new patients, including two people in Beijing and one in Shenzhen. By 25 January, the number of laboratory-confirmed cases stood at 2,062, including 2,016 in Mainland China, seven in Thailand, six in Hong Kong, five in Macau, five in Australia, four in Malaysia, four in Singapore, three in France, three in Japan, three in South Korea, three in Taiwan, three in the United States, two in Vietnam, one in Nepal and one in Sweden.

The virus was soon carried to other countries by international travellers: Thailand (13 January); Japan (15 January); South Korea (20 January); Taiwan and the United States (21 January); Hong Kong and Macau (22 January); Singapore (23 January); France, Nepal and Vietnam (24 January); Australia and Malaysia (25 January); Canada (26 January); Cambodia (27 January); Germany (28 January); Finland, Sri Lanka and the United Arab Emirates (29 January); India, Italy and Philippines (30 January); the United Kingdom, Russia, Sweden and Spain (31 January); Belgium (4 February).

Citing 7,711 cases essentially in China and 83 cases abroad across 18 countries as of 29 January, the World Health Organization declared the novel coronavirus outbreak to be a Public Health Emergency of International Concern on 30 January. As of 9 February, 37,596 cases have been confirmed worldwide, over 99% in China proper.

While spread between people has been confirmed, no active centres of propagation have been confirmed outside China as of 30 January.

On 7 February 2020, Singapore's Ministry of Health announced 3 new cases where none are linked to the existing cases or have been in China recently.

• 
  Map of 2019-nCoV cases in mainland China
• 
  Map of the 2019–20 Wuhan coronavirus outbreak as of 22 May 2024

    Region of origin (mainland China)

    Confirmed cases reported

    Suspected cases reported

Deaths

813 deaths have been attributed to the virus. The first reported death due to 2019-nCoV infection was a 61-year-old man on 9 January 2020 who was first admitted to a Wuhan hospital on 27 December 2019. The first death outside of China occurred in the Philippines, when a 44-year-old Chinese male citizen with coronavirus developed severe pneumonia and died on 1 February. According to China's National Health Commission, most of those who died were older patients – about 80% of deaths recorded were from those over the age of 60, and 75% had pre-existing health conditions including cardiovascular diseases and diabetes. On 8 February 2020, it was announced that a Japanese and an American died due to the virus in Wuhan. They are the first foreigners killed by the virus.

28-year-old Chinese doctor Song Yingjie collapsed and died from cardiac arrest, caused by exhaustion, after working for 10 days. He worked at a clinic in the Hunan province and worked to check drivers and passengers on a motorway, which he did since 25 January.

Estimates

On 17 January, a research group from the Imperial College London in the United Kingdom published a report that there had been 1,723 cases (95% confidence interval, 427–4,471) with onset of symptoms by 12 January. This was based on the pattern of the initial spread to Thailand and Japan. They also concluded that "self-sustaining human-to-human transmission should not be ruled out", which has since been confirmed. As further cases came to light, they later recalculated that there may be 4,000 symptomatic cases of 2019-nCoV in Wuhan City by 18 January (uncertainty range of 1,000 to 9,700). A Hong Kong University group has reached a similar conclusion as the earlier study, with additional detail on transport within China.

Based on cases reported and assuming a 10-day delay between infection and detection, researchers at Northeastern University estimated that the number of actual infections may be much higher than those confirmed at the time of reporting. Northeastern University estimated 21,300 infections by 26 January, increasing to 31,200 infections by 29 January (with a confidence of 95% within the interval 23,400–40,400). On 31 January 2020, an article in The Lancet estimated that 75,815 individuals (95% CrI 37,304–130,330) have been infected in Wuhan as of 25 January, with an estimated doubling time of 6.4 days in the period of study.

There are concerns about whether adequate medical personnel and equipment are available in regions affected by the outbreak for hospitals to correctly identify coronavirus cases instead of misdiagnosing suspected cases as "severe pneumonia". Many of those experiencing symptoms were told to self-quarantine at home instead of going to a hospital to avoid close contact with other patients with different levels of symptoms. After two repatriation flights were conducted from Wuhan to Japan in late January, five out of approximately 400 persons repatriated were diagnosed with the virus, of whom one was symptomatic, and four were not.

Signs and symptoms

Main article: 2019-nCoV acute respiratory disease

Symptoms of 2019-nCoV (2019 novel coronavirus)

Those infected may be asymptomatic or have mild to severe symptoms, like fever, cough, shortness of breath, and diarrhoea. The time from exposure to onset of symptoms is estimated at 2 to 10 days by the World Health Organization, and 2 to 14 days by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Upper respiratory symptoms such as sneezing, a runny nose or sore throat are less frequent.

Cases of severe infection can result in pneumonia, kidney failure, and death. Among the first 41 confirmed cases admitted to hospitals in Wuhan, 13 (32%) individuals required intensive care, and 6 (15%) individuals died. Many of those who died had other conditions such as hypertension, diabetes, or cardiovascular disease that impaired their immune systems. As of 9 February 2020, the number of severe cases is 6,106 (17%) out of 37,596 with 2,690 having recovered.

Diagnosis

The WHO has published several testing protocols for 2019-nCoV. Testing uses real time reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (rRT-PCR). The test can be done on respiratory or blood samples. Results are generally available within a few hours to days.

Chinese scientists were able to isolate a strain of the coronavirus and publish the genetic sequence so that laboratories across the world could independently develop PCR tests to detect infection by the virus.

Cause

Main article: Novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV)

Semi-log plot of cumulative incidence of confirmed cases and deaths in China.

Semi-log plot of daily new confirmed cases and deaths in China.

Semi-log plot of daily new confirmed cases by region: Hubei Province; mainland China excluding Hubei; the rest of the world (ROW); and the world total.

Spread

Coronaviruses are spread through air droplets expelled when an infected individual coughs or sneezes within a range of about 6 feet (1.8 m), which can contaminate surfaces like door handles or railings. Coronavirus droplets only stay suspended in the air for a short time, but can stay viable and contagious on a surface for a few hours.

Four individuals later confirmed to have the infection may have contracted it from an infected but asymptomatic colleague. Viral RNA was also detected in stool specimens collected from the first confirmed case in the United States, though it was unclear if infectious virus was present to suggest fecal-oral transmission.

Of the initial 41 cases, two-thirds had a history of exposure to the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market.

There have been various estimates for the basic reproduction number (the average number of people an infected person is likely to infect), ranging from 2.13 to 3.11. The new coronavirus has been reportedly able to transmit down a chain of up to four people so far. This is similar to severe acute respiratory syndrome-related coronavirus (SARS-CoV). There are disputed reports that some of the infected may be super-spreaders.

On 6 February, the White House asked scientists in the US to investigate the origins and where the virus came from.

Virology

The natural wildlife reservoir of the 2019‐nCoV and intermediate host that transmitted the 2019-nCoV to humans has not been confirmed. Research suggests that the 2019 novel coronavirus has possible bat origins, just like the virus responsible for SARS and MERS. The 2019-nCoV is 96% identical at the whole genome level to a bat coronavirus identified in 2013.

Earlier reports that snakes might have been the natural reservoir for the virus have been widely disputed. Some argued that the reservoir must be bats and the intermediate host is a bird or mammal, not snakes (as snakes, unlike humans, are poikilotherms or "cold-blooded"), while others used data on recombination and SARS/MERS codon usage bias to refute the snake scenario. The recombination event mentioned probably happened in bats.

Phylogenetic studies of 2019-nCoV examine the evolutionary history of the virus and its relationships with other organisms. The seventh member of the family of coronaviruses that can infect humans, 2019-nCoV has been reported to have a genome sequence 75% to 80% identical to the SARS-CoV and to have more similarities to several bat coronaviruses. At least five genomes of the novel coronavirus have been isolated and reported. Like Severe acute respiratory syndrome-related coronavirus (SARS-CoV), it is a member of Beta-CoV lineage B.

Bayesian analysis by Benvenuto et al. of the genome sequences of 2019-nCoV and related coronaviruses, shows that the nucleocapsid and the spike glycoprotein have some sites under positive selective pressure. Homology modelling indicated certain molecular and structural differences among the viruses. The phylogenetic tree showed that 2019-nCoV significantly clustered with a bat SARS-like coronavirus sequence, whereas structural analysis revealed mutations in spike glycoprotein and nucleocapsid protein. The authors conclude 2019-nCoV is a coronavirus distinct from SARS virus that probably was transmitted from bats or another host that provided the ability to infect humans.

In February 2020, researchers from South China Agricultural University announced that there is a 99% similarity in genome sequences between the viruses found in pangolins and those from human patients, suggesting that the animal may be an intermediary host for the virus.

Prevention

A doctor in a protective bunny suit sees a patient in a Wuhan hospital.

Recommended measures to prevent infection depend on the likelihood of a person coming into contact with the disease. The US CDC recommends avoiding exposure. A number of countries have advised against travel to either Mainland China, the province of Hubei, or just Wuhan. Other recommendations include frequent washing of hands with soap and water, not touching ones eyes, nose or mouth unless the hands are clean, and covering the mouth when one coughs. People in high risk areas should take additional precautions even around people that are not displaying symptoms.

Coronaviruses survive for a few hours on surfaces, not for days, so there is no risk in accepting mail or packages sent by someone who is infected. Methods to remove the virus from surfaces include chlorine-based disinfectants, 75% ethanol, peracetic acid, and chloroform. Sesame oil is not effective.

There is no evidence that pets such as dogs and cats can be infected. The Government of Hong Kong warned anyone travelling outside the city to not touch animals; to not eat game meat; and to avoid visiting wet markets, live poultry markets, and farms.

Hand washing

Hand washing is recommended as a preventive measure to prevent the spread of 2019-nCOV. The CDC recommends that individuals:

• "Wash hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds, especially after going to the bathroom; before eating; and after blowing your nose, coughing, or sneezing."
• "If soap and water are not readily available, use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer with at least 60% alcohol. Always wash hands with soap and water if hands are visibly dirty."

The CDC, NHS, and WHO also advise individuals to avoid touching the eyes, nose, or mouth with unwashed hands.

Respiratory hygiene

Those who suspect they are infected should wear a surgical mask (especially when in public) and call a doctor for medical advice. By limiting the volume and travel distance of expiratory droplets disbursed when talking, sneezing, and coughing, masks can serve a public health benefit in reducing transmission by those unknowingly infected.

If a mask is not available, anyone experiencing respiratory symptoms should cover a cough or sneeze with a tissue, promptly discard it in the trash, and wash their hands. If a tissue is unavailable, individuals can cover their mouth or nose with a flexed elbow.

Masks are also recommended for those taking care of someone who may have the disease. Rinsing the nose, gargling with mouthwash, and eating garlic are not effective.

There is no evidence to show that masks protect uninfected persons at low risk and wearing them may create a false sense of security. Surgical masks are widely used by healthy people in Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore and Malaysia. Surgical masks are not recommended by the CDC as a preventive measure for the American general public.

The WHO advises the following best practices for mask usage:

• Place mask carefully to cover mouth and nose and tie securely to minimise any gaps between the face and the mask; While in use, avoid touching the mask;
• Remove the mask by using appropriate technique (i.e. do not touch the front but remove the lace from behind);
• After removal or whenever you inadvertently touch a used mask, clean hands by using an alcohol-based hand rub or soap and water if visibly soiled
• Replace masks with a new clean, dry mask as soon as they become damp/humid;
• Do not re-use single-use masks; Discard single-use masks after each use and dispose of them immediately upon removal

Healthcare professionals interacting directly with patients suspected of having 2019-nCoV are advised to use respirators at least as protective as NIOSH-certified N95, EU standard FFP2, or equivalent, in addition to other personal protective equipment.

Quarantines

Cities under lockdown in China
Place	Province	Start date	End date	City level	Population	Cases	Deaths	Recoveries	Active
Wuhan	Hubei	2020-01-23	2020-04-08	Sub-provincial	11,081,000	50,340	3,869	46,471	0
Xiaogan	Hubei	2020-01-24	2020-03-25	Prefectural	4,920,000	3,518	129	3,389	0
Huanggang	Hubei	2020-01-23	2020-03-25	Prefectural	6,330,000	2,907	125	2,782	0
Jingzhou	Hubei	2020-01-24	2020-03-17	Prefectural	5,590,200	1,580	52	1,528	0
Ezhou	Hubei	2020-01-23	2020-03-25	Prefectural	1,077,700	1,394	59	1,335	0
Suizhou	Hubei	2020-01-24	2020-03-25	Prefectural	2,216,700	1,307	45	1,262	0
Xiangyang	Hubei	2020-01-28	2020-03-25	Prefectural	5,669,000	1,175	40	1,135	0
Huangshi	Hubei	2020-01-24	2020-03-13	Prefectural	2,470,700	1,015	39	976	0
Yichang	Hubei	2020-01-24	2020-03-25	Prefectural	4,135,850	931	37	894	0
Jingmen	Hubei	2020-01-24	2020-03-25	Prefectural	2,896,500	928	41	887	0
Xianning	Hubei	2020-01-24	2020-03-25	Prefectural	2,543,300	836	15	821	0
Shiyan	Hubei	2020-01-24	2020-03-25	Prefectural	3,406,000	672	8	664	0
Xiantao	Hubei	2020-01-24	2020-03-25	Sub-prefectural	1,140,500	575	22	553	0
Tianmen	Hubei	2020-01-24	2020-03-25	Sub-prefectural	1,272,300	496	15	481	0
Enshi	Hubei	2020-01-24	2020-03-25	Prefectural	3,378,000	252	7	245	0
Qianjiang	Hubei	2020-01-24	2020-03-13	Sub-prefectural	966,000	198	9	189	0
Shennongjia	Hubei	2020-01-27	2020-03-25	Sub-prefectural	78,912	11	0	11	0
Wenzhou	Zhejiang	2020-02-02	2020-02-20	Prefectural	9,190,000	507	1	503	3
Ürümqi	Xinjiang	2020-07-18	2020-08-26	Prefectural	3,519,600	845	0	845	0
Shijiazhuang	Hebei	2021-01-07	2021-01-31	Prefectural	11,031,200	977	1	962	14
Xi'an	Shaanxi	2021-12-22	2022-01-16	Sub-provincial	8,467,838	2,265	3	2,185	77
Yuzhou	Henan	2022-01-04	2022-01-31	County	1,167,000	-	-	-	-
Anyang	Henan	2022-01-10	2022-02-03	Prefectural	5,477,614	522	0	522	0
Shenzhen	Guangdong	2022-03-14	2022-03-21	Sub-provincial	17,560,000	982	3	428	551
Shanghai	Shanghai	2022-04-01	2022-06-01	Direct-administered municipality	24,870,895
Lockdown total	101,602,895	68,135	4,512	63,623	0
Outbreak ongoing: Infection and fatality data as of 24:00 (UTC+8) 4 June 2020. Totals will evolve.

Main article: 2020 Hubei lockdowns

On 23 January 2020, a quarantine on travel in and out of Wuhan was imposed in an effort to stop the spread of the virus out of Wuhan. Flights, trains, public buses, the metro system and long-distance coaches were suspended indefinitely. Large-scale gatherings and group tours were also suspended. By 24 January 2020, a total of 15 cities in the Hubei, including Wuhan, were placed under similar quarantine measures. On 27 and 28 January 2020, Xiangyang respectively closed its railway stations and suspended all ferry operations, after shutting down its airport and intercity bus services earlier. Thus, the entire Hubei province entered a city-by-city quarantine, save for the Shennongjia Forestry District.

Before the quarantine began, some in Wuhan questioned the reliability of the figures from the Chinese government as well as the government response, with some calling for quarantine, and a post also showed sick people and three dead bodies covered in white sheets on the floor of a hospital on 24 January, although many such posts in Weibo about the epidemic have since been deleted.

Due to quarantine measures, Wuhan residents rushed to stockpile essential goods, food, and fuel; prices rose significantly. Medical staff faced difficulties in commuting to their hospitals, as they were now limited to walking and private cars. Taxis and private-hire vehicles shunned them upon learning of the destination. 5,000,000 people left Wuhan, with 9,000,000 left in the city.

On 26 January, the city of Shantou in Guangdong declared a partial lockdown, though this was reversed two hours later. This created chaos, as residents rushed to supermarkets to stock food as soon as the lockdown was declared, until the authorities reversed their decision. Caixin said, that the wording of Shantou's initial declaration was "unprecedentedly strict" and will severely affect residents' lives, if implemented as-is. Shantou's Department for Outbreak Control later clarified, that they will not restrict travelling, and all they would do, is to sterilise vehicles used for transportation.

Local authorities in Beijing and several other major cities, including Hangzhou, Guangzhou, Shanghai and Shenzhen announced on 26 January, that these cities will not impose a lockdown similar to those in Hubei province. Rumours of these potential lockdowns had spread widely prior to the official announcements. A spokesperson of Beijing's Municipal Transportation Commission claimed, that the expressways and highways, as well as subways and buses were operating normally. To ease the residents' panic, the Hangzhou city government stressed that the city would not be locked down from the outside world, and both cities said that they would introduce precautions against potential risks.

On 2 February 2020, the city of Wenzhou in Zhejiang province also implemented a partial lockdown, closing 46 of the 54 highway checkpoints.

On 4 February 2020, two more cities in Zhejiang province restricted the movement of residents. The city of Taizhou, three Hangzhou districts, and some in Ningbo began to only allow one person per household to go outside every two days to buy necessities, city officials said. More than 12 million people are affected by the new restrictions.

By 6 February 2020, a total of four Zhejiang cities -- Wenzhou, Hangzhou, Ningbo and Taizhou -- were under the "passport" system, allowing only one person per household is permitted to leave their home every two days. These restrictions apply to over 30 million people.

Outside Mainland China, some cruise ships were quarantined after passengers developed symptoms or tested positive for 2019-nCoV. The Costa Smeralda was quarantined on 30 January off Civitavecchia in Italy, after passengers developed flu-like symptoms – the quarantine was lifted when tests for the virus came back negative. Two further ships were quarantined on 5 February: Diamond Princess in the Port of Yokohama, Japan and World Dream, which returned to Hong Kong after being refused entry to Kaohsiung, Taiwan. In both cases, passengers and crew tested positive and the ships remained quarantined as of 6 February.

• 
  People queueing outside a Wuhan pharmacy to buy face masks and medical supplies
• 
  Residents of Wuhan wearing masks rushed out to nearby markets to buy vegetables and other food on 23 January during the outbreak
• 
  Residents of Wuhan waiting for the last train of the city's metro on 10 am, 22 January

Outdoor restrictions

On 1 February Huanggang, Hubei implemented a measure whereby only one person from each household is permitted to go outside for provisions once every two days, except for medical reasons or to work at shops or pharmacies. Many cities, districts, and counties across mainland China implemented similar measures in the days following, including Wenzhou, Hangzhou, Fuzhou, Harbin, and the whole of Jiangxi Province.

Chinese Administrative Divisions with Family Outdoor Restrictions

Administrative Division	Division Type	Provincial Division	Start Date	End Date	Ordinary Population	Population Year	Notes
Huanggang	City	Hubei	2020-02-01		6,162,069	2010
Wenzhou	City	Zhejiang	2020-02-02	2020-02-08	9,190,000	2017
Wenling	City	Zhejiang	2020-02-02		1,366,800	2010
Fangchenggang	City	Guangxi	2020-02-02	2020-02-08	860,100	2010
Guigang	City	Guangxi	2020-02-02		1,562,200 (Urban only)	2010	Urban districts only
Yuzhou, Yulin	District	Guangxi	2020-02-02		900,000	2010	Scheduled to end at 24:00 9 February
Zhouzhi, Xi'an	County	Shaanxi	2020-02-02		562,768	2010	One person per household every day
Huyi, Xi'an	District	Shaanxi	2020-02-03		556,377	2010	Scheduled to end at 24:00 9 February; one person per household every day
Bengbu	City	Anhui	2020-02-03		3,164,467	2010
Huaibei	City	Anhui	2020-02-03		2,114,276	2010
Bincheng, Binzhou	District	Shandong	2020-02-03		682,717	2010	Scheduled to end at 24:00 9 February
Taizhou	City	Zhejiang	2020-02-03		5,968,838	2010
Hangzhou	City	Zhejiang	2020-02-04		9,806,000	2017
Ezhou	City	Hubei	2020-02-04		1,048,668	2010
Fuzhou	City	Fujian	2020-02-04		7,660,000	2017
Xuzhou	City	Jiangsu	2020-02-04	2020-02-08	8,577,225	2010
Jingdezhen	City	Jiangxi	2020-02-04	(Superseded 2020-02-06)	1,655,000	2015
Harbin	City	Heilongjiang	2020-02-04		10,635,971	2010
Yicheng, Zhumadian	District	Henan	2020-02-04		721,723	2010	One person per household every five days
Xincheng, Xi'an	District	Shaanxi	2020-02-04		589,739	2010
Chang'an, Xi'an	District	Shaanxi	2020-02-04		1,083,285	2010
Yanta, Xi'an	District	Shaanxi	2020-02-05		1,178,529	2010
Lianhu, Xi'an	District	Shaanxi	2020-02-05		712,300	2015
Ningbo	City	Zhejiang	2020-02-05		8,202,000	2018
Hailing, Taizhou	District	Jiangsu	2020-02-05		594,656	2010
Hefei	City	Anhui	2020-02-05		7,965,300	2017
Fuyang	City	Anhui	2020-02-05		7,599,913	2010	Tentatively scheduled until before 9 February
Benxi	City	Liaoning	2020-02-05		1,709,538	2017
Ngawa	Autonomous Prefecture	Sichuan	2020-02-05		930,100	2015
Garzê	Autonomous Prefecture	Sichuan	2020-02-05		1,164,900	2015
Liuzhou	City	Guangxi	2020-02-05		3,758,700	2010
Guilin	City	Guangxi	2020-02-05		4,961,600	2015
Jinchengjiang, Hechi	District	Guangxi	2020-02-05		330,131	2010	One person per household every day
Jiangxi	Province	-	2020-02-06		45,200,000	2013
Xianyang	City	Shaanxi	2020-02-06		5,096,001	2010
Jinzhou	City	Liaoning	2020-02-06		3,070,000	2010
Kuancheng, Changchun	District	Jilin	2020-02-06		680,631	2010
Tangshan	City	Hebei	2020-02-07		7,935,800	2018
Baodi, Tianjin	District	Tianjin	2020-02-09		799,057	2010
All					174,421,748		Sum of census data and population estimates above

Evacuation of foreign citizens

See also: 2019–20 novel coronavirus evacuation timeline

Due to the effective lockdown of public transport in Wuhan and Hubei, several countries have planned to evacuate their citizens and diplomatic staff from the area, primarily through chartered flights of the home nation that have been provided clearance by Chinese authorities. Japan, India, the United States, France, Australia, Sri Lanka, Germany and Thailand were among the first to plan the evacuation of their citizens. Pakistan has said that it will not be evacuating any citizens from China. Brazil has announced that it will evacuate its citizens, but they will be quarantined for a few days at a Brazilian military base near Brasilia. A plane carrying 176 evacuees left Wuhan for Canada on 6 February, where they were to be quarantined at Canadian Forces Base Trenton in Ontario. Australian authorities evacuated 277 citizens on 3 and 4 February to the Christmas Island Detention Centre which had been "repurposed" as a quarantine facility, where they will remain for 14 days.

Vaccine research

Main article: Novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) § Vaccine research

Several organisations around the world are developing vaccines or testing antiviral medicine. In China, the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CCDC) has started developing vaccines against the novel coronavirus and is testing existing drug effectiveness for pneumonia. Also, a team at the University of Hong Kong announced that a new vaccine is developed, but needs to be tested on animals before conducting clinical tests on humans. The Russian consumer health watchdog Rospotrebnadzor started the development of a vaccine, relying on the WHO's recommendations.

In Western countries, The United States' National Institutes of Health (NIH) is hoping for human trials of a vaccine by April 2020, and the Cambridge, Massachusetts–based Moderna is developing a mRNA vaccine with funding from CEPI. Inovio Pharmaceuticals received a grant from CEPI and designed a vaccine in two hours after receiving the gene sequence. The vaccine is being manufactured so that it can be first tested on animals. The Norwegian Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) is funding three vaccine projects and hopes to have a vaccine in trials by June 2020 and approved and ready in a year. The University of Queensland in Australia has received AU$10.6 million in funding from CEPI to develop a "molecular clamp" vaccine platform.

Management

See also: 2019-nCoV acute respiratory disease § Treatment research

Infrared cameras were installed in Wuhan railway station to check passengers' body temperature before they board the trains.

As of 5 February 2020, there were no effective medications for or vaccines against 2019-nCoV, though development efforts were underway. Attempts to relieve the symptoms include taking regular (over-the-counter) flu medications, drinking fluids, and resting. Oxygen therapy, intravenous fluids, and breathing support may be required. Some countries require people to report flu-like symptoms to their doctor, especially if they have visited mainland China.

Domestic responses

'Aerial photography of roads after motor vehicles are banned in central urban areas of Wuhan: few vehicle traces' – Video news from China News Service

Passengers wearing masks going through an extra body temperature check as part of airport security. Captured on 26 January in NE China's Changchun Longjia Airport

Hong Kong residents queueing to refund their bullet train tickets to the mainland in West Kowloon railway station

The first person known to have fallen ill due to the new virus was in Wuhan on 1 December 2019, and a public notice on the outbreak was released by Wuhan health authority on 31 December 2019. The initial notice informed Wuhan residents that there was no clear evidence of human-to-human transmission of the virus, that the disease is preventable and controllable, and that people can wear masks when going out.

On 31 December 2019, the World Health Organization was informed of the new coronavirus, and after Zhong Nanshan, a renowned scientist at China's National Health Commission who played a prominent role in the SARS epidemic declared its potential for human-to-human transmission, the Wuhan government confirmed it on 20 January.

On 25 January, Politburo of the Communist Party of China met to discuss novel coronavirus prevention and control. Chinese Communist Party general secretary Xi Jinping stated that the country is facing a "grave situation" as the number of infected people is accelerating. In the evening, the authorities banned the use of private vehicles in Wuhan. Only vehicles that are transporting critical supplies or emergency response vehicles are allowed to move within the city.

On 26 January, a leading group tasked with the prevention and control of the novel coronavirus outbreak was established, led by Chinese Premier Li Keqiang. Premier Li visited Wuhan to direct the epidemic prevention work on 27 January. The leading group has decided to extend Spring Festival holiday to contain coronavirus outbreak.

China Customs started requiring that all passengers entering and exiting China fill out an extra health declaration form from 26 January. The health declaration form was mentioned in China's Frontier Health and Quarantine Law, granting the customs rights to require it if needed. The customs said it will "restart this system" as it was not a requirement before.

On 27 January, the General Office of the State Council of China, one of the top governing bodies of the People's Republic, officially declared a nation-wide extension on the New Year holiday and the postponement of the coming spring semester. The Office extended the previously scheduled public holiday from 30 January to 2 February, while it said school openings for the spring semester will be announced in the future. Some universities with open campuses also banned the public from visiting. On 23 January, the education department in Hunan, which neighbours the centre of the outbreak Hubei province, stated it will strictly ban off-school tutors and restrict unapproved student gatherings, both of which are common study practices in China. Education departments in Shanghai and Shenzhen also imposed bans on off-school tutoring and requested that schools track and report students who had been to Wuhan or Hubei province during the winter break. The semi-autonomous regions of Hong Kong and Macau also announced adjustments on schooling schedules. Hong Kong's Chief Executive Carrie Lam declared an emergency at a press conference on 25 January, saying the government will close primary and secondary schools for two more weeks on top of the previously scheduled New Year holiday, pushing the date for school reopening to 17 February. Macau closed several museums and libraries, and prolonged the New Year holiday break to 11 February for higher education institutions and 10 February for others. The University of Macau said they would track the physical conditions of students who have been to Wuhan during the New Year break.

After the Chinese New Year on 25 January, there would be another peak of people travelling back from their hometowns to workplaces as a part of Chunyun. Several provinces and cities encouraged people to stay in their hometowns and not travel back. Eastern China's Suzhou also encouraged remote working via the Internet and further prolonged the spring festival break.

The Civil Aviation Administration of China and the China State Railway Group, which regulates China's civil aviation and operates rail services, announced on 24 January that passengers could have full refunds for their plane and train tickets without any additional surcharges, regardless of whether their flight or train will go through Wuhan or not. Some hotel chains and online travel agencies also allowed more flexibility in cancellations and changes. China's Ministry of Culture and Tourism ordered travel agencies and online tourism firms to suspend package tours and stop offering "flight+hotel" bundles.

Additional provinces and cities outside of Hubei imposed travel restrictions. Beijing suspended all Intercity bus services on 25 January, with several others following suit. Shanghai, Tianjin, Shandong, Xi'an, and Sanya all announced suspension of intercity or inter-province bus services on 26 January.

On 1 February 2020, Xinhua News reported that China's Supreme People's Procuratorate (SPP) has "asked procuratorates nationwide to fully play their role to create a favourable judicial environment in the fight against the novel coronavirus outbreak." This includes severe punishments for those found guilty of dereliction of duty and the withholding of information for officials. Intensified charges were proscribed for commercial criminal activities such as "the pushing up of prices, profiteering and severely disturbing market order" along with the "production and sale of fake and shoddy protective equipment and medicines." Prosecuting actions against patients who deliberately spread the infection or refuse examination or compulsory isolation along with threats of violence against medical personnel were also urged. The statement also included urging to prosecute those found "fabricating coronavirus-related information that may lead to panic among the public, making up and spreading rumors about the virus, sabotaging the implementation of the law and endangering public security" and also stressed harsh punishment for the illegal hunting of wildlife under state protection, as well as improving inspection and quarantine measures for fresh food and meat products."

Museums throughout China are temporarily closed. In order to provide service cultural and heritage seekers some form of service, the Chinese Nation Cultural Heritage Administration (NCHA) has asked museums around the country to move their exhibits and galleries temporarily online. This is done via a specific program that the NCHA is launching. Some museums are also putting the content on their own website, social media, or even social chat apps and rooms like WeChat. The majority of the content will be available on a NCHA website web page, however it is only accessible inside of China. However, there are a few excerpts from the main created exhibition website that are on the NCHA general information page that are linked too, that are accessible outside of China.

Censorship and police responses

The first known infection by a new virus was reported in Wuhan on 1 December 2019, the early response by city authorities has been accused of prioritising a control of information on the outbreak, with a group of eight medical personnel, who posted warnings later in December being warned by Wuhan police for "spreading rumours". By the time China had informed the WHO of the new coronavirus on 31 December 2019, the New York Times reported that the government was still keeping "its own citizens in the dark". While by a number of measures, China's initial handling of 2019-nCoV crisis was an improvement in relation to the SARS response in 2003, China has been criticised for cover-ups and downplaying the initial discovery and severity of the outbreak. This has been attributed to the censorship modus operandi of the country's press and internet, with the New York Times Nicholas Kristof and CSIS's Jude Blanchette suggesting that it was exacerbated by China's paramount leader Xi Jinping's crackdown on independent oversight such as journalism and social media that left senior officials with inaccurate information on the outbreak and "contributed to a prolonged period of inaction that allowed the virus to spread". Hu Xijin, editor of Global Times, criticised Wuhan's government for their "sluggish response", and questioned the willingness of Wuhan's authorities to announce confirmation of human-to-human transmission had this not already been announced by Zhong Nanshan, a leading national expert on respiratory diseases on 20 January.

On 20 January, General Secretary Xi Jinping made his first public remark on the outbreak and spoke of "the need for the timely release of information". Chinese premier Li Keqiang also urged efforts to prevent and control the epidemic. One day later, the CPC Central Political and Legal Affairs Commission, the most powerful political organ in China overseeing legal enforcement and the police, wrote "self-deception will only make the epidemic worse and turn a natural disaster that was controllable into a man-made disaster at great cost," and "only openness can minimise panic to the greatest extent." The commission then added, "anyone who deliberately delays and hides the reporting of cases out of self-interest will be nailed on a pillar of shame for eternity."

Steve Tsang, director of the China Institute at SOAS University of London, observed "the minute Xi Jinping said something, things were put into overdrive. That's what people in China will be seeing and a lot will be made out of that." As part of the central government's "bifurcated approach to diffuse discontent", citizens were permitted to criticize local officials so long as they did not "question the basic legitimacy of the party", while the propaganda machinery was going into "overdrive...to protect [Xi Jinping's] reputation" through positive press coverage in the state media. Those allegations were highlighted by a statement from Xi Jinping on 3 February declaring the need for an emphasis by state media on "telling the moving stories of how [people] on the front line are preventing and fighting the virus," as a priority of coverage. The Financial Times noted that such widely publicized actions made a strong impression upon domestic and international observers that the "overbearing, centralized government" of China was particularly suited to dealing with the crisis, despite the fact that the lock down of Wuhan came too late to be effective as millions had left.

Alongside the "campaign of positive media coverage" alleged by some observers, censorship has been observed being applied on news articles and social media posts deemed to hold negative tones about the coronavirus and the governmental response on the purported justificiation of spreading panic. Banned content included posts mocking Xi Jinping for not visiting areas of the epidemic, an article that predicted negative effects of the epidemic on the economy, and calls to remove local government officials. After the death of Li Wenliang, some of the trending hashtags on Weibo such as "Wuhan government owes Dr Li Wenliang an apology" and "We want freedom of speech" were blocked. Reports have described how police have detained people for online posts critical of authorities' response to the epidemic, with a case on 25 January in Tianjin where a man was detained for 10 days for "maliciously publishing aggressive, insulting speech against medical personnel".

The Human Rights Watch, an international advocacy group, stated that "there is considerable misinformation on Chinese social media and authorities have legitimate reasons to counter false information that can cause public panic," but also noted censorship by the authorities on social media posted by families of infected people who were potentially seeking help as well as by people living in cordoned cities who were documenting their daily lives amidst the lockdown.

On 30 January, China's Supreme Court, delivered a rare rebuke against the country's police forces, calling the "unreasonably harsh crackdown on online rumours" as undermining public trust. In what has been called a "highly unusual criticism" by observers, supreme court judge Tang Xinghua said that if police had been lenient against rumours and allowed the public to have taken heed of them, an earlier adoption of "measures like wearing masks, strictly disinfecting and avoiding wildlife markets" might have been useful in countering the spread of the epidemic.

International responses

See also: Timeline of the 2019–20 Wuhan coronavirus outbreak § Reactions and measures outside Mainland China

Countries/regions with imposed travel restrictions in response to the Wuhan coronavirus outbreak as of 2 February 2020. These include entry bans on Chinese citizens or recent visitors to China, halted issuing of visas to Chinese citizens or reimposed visa requirements on Chinese citizens and also countries that have responded with border closures with China.

Since 31 December 2019, some regions and countries near China tightened their screening of selected travellers. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) of the United States later issued a Level 1 travel watch. Guidances and risk assessments were shortly posted by others including the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control and Public Health England. In China, airports, railway stations and coach stations installed infrared thermometers. Travelers with a measured fever are taken to medical institutions after being registered and given masks. Real time Reverse Transcription-Polymerase Chain Reaction (rRT-PCR) test was used to confirm new cases of coronavirus infection.

An analysis of air travel patterns was used to map out and predict patterns of spread and was published in the Journal of Travel Medicine in mid-January 2020. Based on information from the International Air Transport Association (2018), Bangkok, Hong Kong, Tokyo, and Taipei had the largest volume of travellers from Wuhan. Dubai, Sydney and Melbourne were also reported as popular destinations for people travelling from Wuhan. Using the validated tool, the Infectious Disease Vulnerability Index (IDVI), to assess the ability to manage a disease threat, Bali was reported as least able in preparedness, while cities in Australia were considered most able.

As a result of the outbreak many countries including most of the Schengen area, Armenia, Australia, India , Iraq, Indonesia, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Malaysia, Maldives, New Zealand, Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Vietnam and the United States have imposed temporary entry bans on Chinese citizens or recent visitors to China, or have ceased issuing visas and reimposed visa requirements on Chinese citizens.

In Asia, Hong Kong, Mongolia, Nepal, North Korea, Russia and Vietnam have also responded with border tightening/closures with mainland China. On 22 January 2020, North Korea closed its borders to international tourists to prevent the spread of the virus into the country. Chinese visitors make up the bulk of foreign tourists to North Korea.

Also on 22 January, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) announced that it would be moving the matches in the third round of the 2020 AFC Women's Olympic Qualifying Tournament from Wuhan to Nanjing, affecting the women's national team squads from Australia, China PR, Chinese Taipei and Thailand. A few days later, the AFC announced that together with Football Federation Australia they would be moving the matches to Sydney. The Asia-Pacific Olympic boxing qualifiers, which were originally set to be held in Wuhan from 3–14 February, were also cancelled and moved to Amman, Jordan to be held between 3–11 March.

On 27 January 2020, the United States CDC issued updated travel guidance for China, recommending that travellers avoid all nonessential travel to all of the country. The CDC has directed U.S. Customs and Border Protection to check individuals for symptoms of the coronavirus.

On 29 January 2020, British Airways, Lufthansa, Lion Air, and Air Seoul cancelled all their flights to mainland China in reaction to the spread of the virus. The same day, the Czech Republic stopped issuing Schengen visas to Chinese citizens.

On 30 January 2020, Belgium, Greece and Italy closed all Schengen Visa application centres in China. The same day, Egyptair announced suspension of flights between Egypt and Hangzhou starting 1 February 2020 while those to Beijing and Guangzhou will be suspended starting 4 February 2020 until further notice.

On 31 January 2020, Italy closed all passenger air traffic between Italy and China and Taiwan. The Italian Civil Aviation Authority NOTAM says that effective 31 January, all passenger flights from China, including the special administrative regions of Hong Kong and Macau, and Taiwan are suspended until further notice, on request of the Italian health authorities. Aircraft that were flying to Italy when the NOTAM was published, were cleared to land.

As of 1 February 2020, France was the only remaining Schengen country still issuing visas to Chinese citizens.

Qatar Airways took the decision to suspend flights to mainland China from 3 February until further notice, due to significant operational challenges caused by entry restrictions imposed by several countries. Qatar Airways is the first carrier in the Middle East to do so. An ongoing review of operations will be conducted weekly with the intention to reinstate flights as soon as the restrictions are lifted.

Though some of the airlines cancelled flights to Hong Kong as well, British Airways, Finnair and Lufthansa have not, and American Airlines continues operating a limited service to the area. Hong Kong's four airlines halved the flights to mainland China. A large number of airlines have reduced or cancelled flights to and from China. On 31 January 2020, the United States declared the virus a public health emergency. Starting 2 February, all inbound passengers who have been to Hubei in the previous 14 days will be put under quarantine for up to 14 days. Any U.S. Citizen who has travelled to the rest of mainland China will be allowed to continue their travel home if they are asymptomatic, but will be monitored by local health departments.

On 2 February 2020, India issued a travel advisory that warned all people residing in India to not travel to China, suspended E-visas from China, and further stated anyone who has travelled to China starting 15 January (to an indefinite point in the future) could be quarantined. New Zealand announced that it will deny entry to all travellers from China and that it will order its citizens to self-isolate for 14 days if they are returning from China. Indonesia and Iraq followed by also banning all travellers that visited China within the past 14 days.

On 3 February 2020, Indonesia announced it would ban passenger flights and also sea freight from and to China starting on 5 February and until further notice. Live animal imports and other products were banned as well. Minister of Trade Agus Suparmanto "We will obviously stop live animals imports from China and are still considering banning other products" Turkey announced it would suspend all flights from China till the end of February and begin scanning passengers coming from South Asian countries at airports.

International aid

The United States city of Pittsburgh announced plans to promptly send aid to Wuhan, with mayor Bill Peduto stating that "Our office has reached out to the mayor of Wuhan, which is our sister city" and promising that "over the next two days we should be able to have a care package that has been put together." He speculated that the contents of such a package will be coordinated with the consultation of medical experts, but that it will likely consist of "face masks, rubber gloves and other material that could be hard to find in the future". Additionally, the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center (UPMC) announced plans to provide help, with UPMC spokesman Paul Wood stating that "UPMC has a significant presence in China and has been in contact with our partners there", also declaring that "we stand ready to assist them and others in China with their unmet humanitarian needs."

The humanitarian aid organisation Direct Relief, in co-ordination with FedEx transportation and logistics support, sent 200,000 face masks along with other personal protective equipment, including gloves and gowns, by emergency airlift to arrive in Wuhan Union Hospital, who requested the supplies by 30 January. The Gates Foundation stated on 26 January that it would donate US$5 million in aid to support the response in China that will be aimed at assisting "emergency funds and corresponding technical support to help front-line responders".

Japan, in the process of co-ordinating a plane flight to Wuhan to pick up Japanese nationals in the city, has promised that the plane will first carry into Wuhan aid supplies that Japanese foreign minister Toshimitsu Motegi stated will consist of "masks and protective suits for Chinese people as well as for Japanese nationals". On 26 January, the plane arrived in Wuhan, donating its supply of one million face masks to the city. Also among the aid supplies were 20,000 protective suits for medical staff across Hubei donated by the Tokyo Metropolitan Government.

Support efforts have sprung across Japan to help aid residents in Wuhan. On 27 January, the city of Ōita, a sister city to Wuhan for 40 years, sent 30,000 masks from its own disaster relief stockpile to its sister city through the Red Cross network with boxes labelled "Wuhan Jiayou!", meaning "Hang in there, Wuhan!" in Chinese. Its International Affairs Office division head, Soichiro Hayashi, said that "The people of Wuhan are like family" and expressed hopes that "people can return to their ordinary lives as quickly as possible". Peace Winds Japan has declared it will send a staff member to China to help distribute the face masks and other goods that the NGO will send to the country.

A number of other countries have also announced aid efforts. Malaysia announced a donation of 18 million medical gloves to China, The Philippine Red Cross also donated $1.4 million worth of Philippine-made face masks, which were shipped to Wuhan. Turkey dispatched medical equipment, and Germany delivered various medical supplies including 10,000 Hazmat suits.

Speciality hospitals

File:Wuhan Jinyintan Hospital (retouched).jpg

Jinyintan Hospital had initially been tasked with treating those with the coronavirus.

Construction site of Huoshenshan Hospital as it appeared on 24 January.

A speciality hospital named Huoshenshan Hospital has been constructed as a countermeasure against the outbreak and to better quarantine the patients. Wuhan City government had demanded that a state-owned enterprise construct such a hospital "at the fastest speed" comparable to that of the SARS outbreak in 2003. On 24 January, Wuhan authorities specified its planning, saying they planned to have Huoshenshan Hospital built within six days of the announcement and it will be ready to use on 3 February. Upon opening, the speciality hospital has 1,000 beds and takes up 30,000 square metres. The hospital is modelled after the Xiaotangshan Hospital, which was fabricated for the SARS outbreak of 2003, itself built in only seven days. State media reported that there were 7,000 workers and nearly 300 units of construction machinery on the site at peak.

On 25 January authorities announced plans for Leishenshan Hospital, a second speciality hospital, with a capacity of 1,600 beds; operations are scheduled to start by 6 February. Some people voiced their concerns through social media services, saying the authorities' decision to build yet another hospital in such little time showed the severity of the outbreak could be a lot worse than expected.

On 24 January 2020, the authority announced that they would convert an empty building in Huangzhou District, Huanggang to a 1,000-bed hospital named Dabie Mountain Regional Medical Centre. Works began the next day by 500 personnel and the building began accepting patients on 28 January 2020 at 10:30 pm.

The British Government and National Health Service have set up an isolation facility at Arrowe Park Hospital in The Wirral for British people returning from Wuhan.

Reactions to prevention efforts

WHO response

The World Health Organization (WHO) has commended the efforts of Chinese authorities in managing and containing the epidemic with its Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus expressing "confidence in China's approach to controlling the epidemic" and calling for the public to "remain calm".

The WHO noted the contrast between the 2003 epidemic, where Chinese authorities were accused of secrecy that impeded prevention and containment efforts, and the current crisis where the central government "has provided regular updates to avoid panic ahead of Lunar New Year holidays". In reaction to the central authorities' decision to implement a transportation ban in Wuhan, WHO representative Gauden Galea remarked that while it was "certainly not a recommendation the WHO has made", it was also "a very important indication of the commitment to contain the epidemic in the place where it is most concentrated" and called it "unprecedented in public health history". Unlike the recommendations of other agencies, Tedros states that "there is no reason for measures that unnecessarily interfere with international travel and trade" and that "WHO doesn't recommend limiting trade and movement".

On 30 January 2020, following confirmation of human-to-human transmission outside of China and the increase in number of cases in other countries, the WHO declared the outbreak a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC), the sixth PHEIC since the measure was first invoked during the 2009 Swine flu pandemic. Tedros clarified that the PHEIC, in this case, was "not a vote of no confidence in China", but because of the risk of global spread, especially to low- and middle-income countries without robust health systems.

International reactions

On 29 January, Russian President Vladimir Putin held a meeting on measures to counter the spread of coronavirus in Russia.

On 30 January, US President Donald Trump received a briefing on the Coronavirus in China.

China's response to the virus, in comparison to the 2003 SARS outbreak, has been praised by some foreign leaders. US President Donald Trump thanked Chinese President Xi Jinping "on behalf of the American People" on 24 January 2020 on Twitter, stating that "China has been working very hard to contain the Coronavirus. The United States greatly appreciates their efforts and transparency" and declaring that "It will all work out well." Germany's health minister Jens Spahn, in an interview on Bloomberg TV, said with comparison to the Chinese response to SARS in 2003: "There's a big difference to SARS. We have a much more transparent China. The action of China is much more effective in the first days already." He also praised the international cooperation and communication in dealing with the virus.

At a Sunday mass at St. Peter's Square in Vatican City on 26 January 2020, Pope Francis praised "the great commitment by the Chinese community that has already been put in place to combat the epidemic" and commenced a closing prayer for "the people who are sick because of the virus that has spread through China".

Criticism of local response

Wuhan police document ordering Li Wenliang to stop "spreading rumours" dated 3 January.

Local officials in Wuhan and the province of Hubei have faced criticism, both domestically and internationally, for mishandling the initial outbreak. Allegations included insufficient medical supplies, lack of transparency to the press and censorship of social media during the initial weeks of the outbreak. On 1 January 2020, the Wuhan police interviewed eight residents for "spreading false information" (characterising the new infection as SARS-like). The Wuhan police had originally stated through a post on its official Weibo account that "eight people had been dealt with according to the law", later clarifying through Weibo that they had only given out "education and criticism" and refrained from harsher punishments such as "warnings, fines, or detention". One of the eight, a doctor named Li Wenliang who informed his former medical school classmates of the coronavirus in a WeChat group after examining a patient's medical report with symptoms of the illness, was warned by the police on 3 January for "making untrue comments" that had "severely disturbed the social order" and made to sign a statement of acknowledgment. It was reported on 7 February 2020 Li had died after contracting the disease from a patient in January 2020. His death triggered grief and anger on the social media, which became extended to demands for freedom of speech in China. China's anti-corruption body, the National Supervisory Commission, has initiated an investigation into the issues involving Li.

Local officials were also criticized for hiding evidence of human-to-human transmission in early January, and suppressing reports about the disease during People's Congress meetings for political reasons. Criticism was further directed at Hubei Governor Wang Xiaodong after he twice claimed at a press conference that 10.8 billion face masks were produced each year in the province, rather than the accurate number of 1.8 million.

Wuhan Police detained several Hong Kong media correspondents for over an hour when they were conducting interviews at Wuhan's Jinyintan Hospital on 14 January. Reports said the police brought the correspondents to a police station, where the police checked their travel documents and belongings, then asked them to delete video footage taken in the hospital before releasing them.

Authorities in Wuhan and Hubei provinces have been criticised for downplaying the severity of the outbreak and responding slower than they could have. The Beijing-based media journal, Caixin noted that Hubei did not roll out the first level of "public health emergency response mechanism" until 24 January, while several other provinces and cities outside of the centre of the outbreak have already done so the day before. John Mackenzie, a senior expert at WHO, accused them of keeping "the figures quiet for a while because of some major meeting they had in Wuhan", alleging that there was a "period of very poor reporting, or very poor communication" in early January.

On 19 January, four days before the city's lockdown, a wan jia yan (Chinese: 万家宴; lit. 'ten-thousand family banquet') was held in Wuhan, with over 40,000 families turning out; this attracted retrospective criticism. The domestic The Beijing News argued that the local authorities should not have held such a public assembly while attempting to control the outbreak. The paper also stated that when their journalists visited the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market where the coronavirus likely originated, most residents and merchants there were not wearing face masks. Zhou Xianwang, the mayor of Wuhan, later spoke to China Central Television, explaining that the banquet was held annually, that it is a "sample of the people's self-autonomy", and that the decision was made based on the fact that scientists then wrongly believed that the virus's ability to spread between humans was limited. Meanwhile, on 20 January, Wuhan's municipal department for culture and tourism gave out 200,000 tickets valid for visiting all tourist attractions in Wuhan to its citizens for free. The department was later criticised for disregarding the outbreak.

Notable in relation to the widespread criticism of the local response, the central government's response has been contrasted with praise for their handling of the crisis by international experts, but also especially by state media. This has led to suggestions, in particular by the international media, that it is an attempt by the official press to shift public anger away from the central government and towards local authorities. It has been noted historically that the tendency of provincial governments to minimise reporting local incidents have been because of the central government directing a large proportion of the blame onto them. Critics, such as Wu Qiang, a former professor at Tsinghua University, and Steve Tsang, director of the China Institute at the University of London, have further argued the same point, with the latter suggesting that it was also exacerbated through local officials being "apprehensive about taking sensible preventive measures without knowing what Xi and other top leaders wanted as they feared that any missteps would have serious political consequences", a sentiment that Tsang argued was difficult to avoid when "power is concentrated in the hands of one top leader who is punitive to those who make mistakes". Wuhan mayor Zhou Xianwang defended himself, referring to those suggestions by publicly blaming regulatory requirements that require local governments to first seek Beijing's approval, which delayed disclosure of the epidemic. He stated in an interview that "as a local government, we may disclose information only after we are given permission to do so. That is something that many people do not understand."

Tang Zhihong, the chief of the health department in Huanggang, was fired hours after she was unable to answer questions on how many people in her city were being treated. During an interview on state television, she responded to a central government inspection team who asked how many sick people were in the city's care saying, "I don't know, I'm unclear, I only know how many beds there are. Don't ask me how many people are being treated."

Misinformation

Main article: Misinformation related to the 2019-2020 novel coronavirus outbreak

After the initial outbreak, conspiracy theories and misinformation spread online regarding the origin and scale of the Wuhan coronavirus. Various social media posts claimed the virus was a bio-weapon, a population control scheme, or the result of a spy operation. Google, Facebook, and Twitter announced they will crack down on possible misinformation. In a blogpost, Facebook stated they would remove content flagged by leading global health organizations and local authorities that violate its content policy on misinformation leading to "physical harm".

On 2 February, the WHO declared there was a "massive infodemic" accompanying the outbreak and response, citing an over-abundance of reported information, accurate and false, about the virus that "makes it hard for people to find trustworthy sources and reliable guidance when they need it." The WHO stated that the high demand for timely and trustworthy information has incentivised the creation of a direct WHO 24/7 myth-busting hotline where its communication and social media teams have been monitoring and responding to misinformation through its website and social media pages.

Impact

The epidemic coincided with the Lunar New Year, which marks a major festival season for the region and the busiest travel period in China. A number of events involving large crowds were cancelled by national and regional governments, including annual New Year festivals, with private companies also independently closing their shops and tourist attractions such as Hong Kong Disneyland and Shanghai Disneyland.

As Mainland China is a major economy and a manufacturing hub, the viral outbreak has been seen to pose a major destabilising threat to the global economy. Agathe Demarais of the Economist Intelligence Unit has forecast that markets will remain volatile until a clearer image emerges on potential outcomes. Some analysts have estimated that the economic fallout of the epidemic on global growth could surpass that of the SARS outbreak.

Mainland China

Main article: Mainland China during the 2019–20 Wuhan coronavirus outbreak

Tourism in China has been hit hard by travel restrictions and fears of contagion, including a ban on both domestic and international tour groups. Many airlines have either cancelled or greatly reduced flights to China and several travel advisories now warn against travel to China. Many countries, including France, the United Kingdom, United States and Japan, have evacuated their nationals from Wuhan and Hubei province.

The majority of schools and universities have extended their annual holidays to mid-February. Overseas students enrolled at Chinese universities have been returning home over fears of being infected—the first cases to be reported by Nepal and Kerala, a southern state of India, were both of students who had returned home.

The Finance Ministry of China announced it would fully subsidise personal medical cost incurred by patients.

Hong Kong

Hong Kong has seen high-profile protests that saw tourist arrivals from Mainland China plummet over an eight-month period. The viral epidemic put additional pressure on the travel sector to withstand a prolonged period of downturn. A drop in arrivals from third countries more resilient during the previous months has also been cited as a concern. The city is already in recession and Moody has lowered the city's credit rating. The worst economic effects from the outbreak are expected for Australia, Hong Kong and China.

There has also been a renewed increase in protest activity as hostile sentiment against Mainland Chinese strengthened over fears of viral transmission from Mainland China, with many calling for the border ports to be closed and for all Mainland Chinese travellers to be refused entry. Incidents have included a number of petrol bombs being thrown at police stations, a homemade bomb exploding in a toilet, and foreign objects being thrown onto transit rail tracks between Hong Kong and the Mainland Chinese border. Political issues raised have included concerns that Mainland Chinese may prefer to travel to Hong Kong to seek free medical help (which has since been addressed by the Hong Kong government).

Since the outbreak of the virus, a significant number of products have been sold out across the city, including face masks and disinfectant products (such as alcohol and bleach). An ongoing period of panic buying has also caused many stores to be cleared of non-medical products such as bottled water, vegetables and rice. The Government of Hong Kong had its imports of face masks cancelled as global face mask stockpiles decline.

In view of the coronavirus outbreak, the Education Bureau closed all kindergartens, primary schools, secondary schools and special schools until 17 February. This was later extended to 1 March due to further development of the epidemic. The disruption has raised concerns over the situation of students who are due to take examinations at the end of the year, especially in light of the protest-related disruption that happened in 2019.

On 5 February, flag carrier Cathay Pacific requested its 27,000 employees to voluntarily take three weeks of unpaid leave by the end of June. The airline had previously reduced flights to mainland China by 90% and to overall flights by 30%.

Macau

On 4 February 2020, all casinos in Macau were ordered to shut down for 15 days.

Taiwan

On 6 January 2020, Taiwan Centres for Disease Control implemented temperature screenings for every direct flight from Wuhan to Taiwan. After Taiwan's CDC reported first confirmed case of the novel coronavirus in Taiwan on 21 January, Taiwan had raised travel alert on the epicentre of this epidemic, Wuhan, to level 3 warning, recommending to avoid all non-essential travels to the city Wuhan. On 24 January, Taiwanese government announced to temporarily ban the export of face masks for a month to supply masks for its citizens. On 2 February 2020, Central Epidemic Command Center decided to postpone the opening of primary and secondary schools until 25 February and the ending of primary and secondary schools until 14 July. On 6 February 2020, Taiwan raised outbreak level on China, Hong Kong, and Macau to level 2 or above. On the same day, Taiwan announced to ban all entries of Chinese citizens or any foreigners travelled to China, Hong Kong or Macau within 14 days. Taiwan has also announced to ban cruise ships from entering all Taiwanese ports. In response to the novel coronavirus, Italy has banned flights from China, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan. As a result, Taiwanese carrier China Airlines's direct flights to Rome have been rejected. On the other hand, the second largest Taiwanese carrier, Eva Air, has also postponed the launch of Milan and Phuket.

Japan

Shelves in a pharmacy in Japan sold out of masks on 3 February 2020

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has said that "the new coronavirus is having a major impact on tourism, the economy and our society as a whole". There have been reports that face masks have been selling out across the nation and that there has been pressure placed on the healthcare system as demands for medical checkups increase. Shops have said that their stocks of face masks are depleted within a day of new arrivals.Chinese, or people assumed to be Chinese, have reported discrimination in Japan as Japanese people fear possible viral contagion. The health minister has pointed out that the situation has not reached a point where mass gathering must be called off.

The epidemic is expected to have a negative impact on the economy of Japan. Mitsubishi, UFJ, Morgan Stanley predicted that the economic fallout of the epidemic would be worse than that of SARS since tourism plays a larger part in the current Japanese economy. Economic politician Yasutoshi Nishimura also warned that the viral epidemic could have a strong impact on the Japanese economy due to disruption of logistics and factory operations. Japanese airlines have started suspending flights to China and JTB, the country's largest travel agency, has cancelled all tours to China. Manufacturers, including Toyota, have halted all their production lines in Mainland China and Honda has evacuated all of its staff from Wuhan. Prime Minister Abe has considered using emergency funds to mitigate the outbreak's impact on tourism, of which Chinese nationals account for 40%. S&P Global noted that the worst hit shares were from companies spanning travel, cosmetics and retail sectors which are most exposed to Chinese tourism. It is noted that increased sales of face masks and protective gear are unlikely to compensate for the economic downturn. The outbreak itself has been a concern for the 2020 Summer Olympics which is scheduled to take place in Tokyo starting at the end of July. The national government has thus been taking extra precautions to help minimize the outbreak's impact. The Tokyo organizing committee and the International Olympic Committee have been monitoring the outbreak's impact in Japan.

Australia

Australia is expected to be one of three economies worst affected by the epidemic, along with Mainland China and Hong Kong. The total cost to the Australian economy has been estimated at well over $1 billion, a figure calculated from the cost to the tourism sector of a two-month travel ban. The Australian Treasurer said that the country would no longer be able to promise a budget surplus due to the outbreak. ANZ predicted that the GDP would reduce by 0.2%, and PricewaterhouseCoopers estimated that 20,000 Australian jobs would be lost. The virus is thought to have contributed to a fall in the value of the Australian dollar. The economic cost of the coronavirus in Australia "almost wholly depends on the indirect effects of the decisions that many millions of individuals make to minimise their chance of catching the virus, and the decision of governments on how to react to the threat" according to a quotation in ABC News.

China is responsible for around one-third of all exports from Australia including 80% of iron ore exports and 70% of global seaborne supply of steel. The iron ore shipping gauge dropped 99.9%. The virus has also made shipping and logistic operations of mining companies more complicated. A coal ship was detained off the coast of Gladstone over transmission fears. The fishing industry is also expected to be "devastated" by the coronavirus outbreak with staff lay offs and business closures.

According to a February government estimate, the Australian education sector is expected to suffer a US$5 billion loss. The taxpayer is likely to be required to cover the shortfall in education budgets. An estimated 100,000 students were not able to enroll at the start of the semester. Nearly two-thirds of Chinese students were forced to quarantine themselves overseas due to visa restrictions on travelers from Mainland China.

Asian Champions League matches and Olympic soccer matches that were expected to be held in Australia are being rescheduled. A Chinese football team has been quarantined to a hotel in Brisbane.

Southeast Asia

Among Association of Southeast Asian Nations countries, the city-state of Singapore was forecast to be one of the worst hit countries by Maybank. Economists have advised that the viral outbreak would have an impact on the economy of the country, but that it was too soon to provide a certain answer. The tourism sector was considered to be an "immediate concern" along with the effects on production lines due to disruption to factories and logistics in mainland China. Singapore has witnessed panic buying of essential groceries, and of masks, thermometers and sanitation products despite being advised against doing so by the government.

Maybank economists rated Thailand as being most at risk, with the threat of the viral outbreak's impact on tourism causing the Baht to fall to a seven-month low.

In Malaysia, economists predicted that the outbreak would affect the country's GDP, trade and investment flows, commodity prices and tourist arrivals.

In Indonesia, 10,000 Chinese tourists cancelled trips to Bali over coronavirus fears.

South Asia

India is highly dependent on trade across the Himalayas. The disruption in mainland China could adversely impact the Economy of India, especially the electronics and manufacturing industries, with the closure of Chinese ports having a knock-on effect on Indian industry more widely.

Sri Lanka has warned of a short term impact on the tourism sector.

United States

The viral outbreak was cited by many companies in their briefings to shareholders, but several maintained confidence that they would not be too adversely affected by short-term disruption due to "limited" exposure to the Chinese consumer market. Those with manufacturing lines in mainland China warned about possible exposure to supply shortages.

Silicon Valley representatives expressed worries about serious disruption to production lines, as much of the technology sector relies on factories in Mainland China. Since there had been a scheduled holiday over Lunar New Year, the full effects of the outbreak on the tech sector were considered to be unknown as of 31 January 2020, according to The Wall Street Journal.

Cities with high populations of Chinese residents have seen an increase in demand for face masks to protect against the virus; many are purchasing masks to mail to relatives in China, Hong Kong, and Macau, where there is a shortage of masks.

Due to the large amount of masks being purchased in the United States, many stores have sold out of masks. This mask shortage has caused an increase in prices.

France

Five people, including one child, were diagnosed with the virus after coming into contact with a British man who came back from Singapore. Two schools that the child attends will be closed, and parents have been asked to monitor their child.

See also

• 2009 flu pandemic
• Li Wenliang
• Emerging infectious disease
• List of epidemics

External links

• Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV) situation reports at WHO website, include official numbers of confirmed cases in countries of the world
• Live global map of Wuhan novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) spread using official Chinese sources by Medgic, updated daily
• Interactive global map of Wuhan novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) spread and spreadsheet by Johns Hopkins University, updated daily
• 2019-nCoV Data Portal – integrated data about the Wuhan novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) in the Virus Pathogen Resource
• "Coronavirus". Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). February 2020.
• Geographical distribution of 2019-nCov cases by European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control
• "Statement on the meeting of the International Health Regulations (2005) Emergency Committee regarding the outbreak of novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) on 23 January 2020". World Health Organization (WHO).
• Patel A, Jernigan DB, 2019-nCoV CDC Response Team (7 February 2020). "Initial Public Health Response and Interim Clinical Guidance for the 2019 Novel Coronavirus Outbreak — United States, December 31, 2019–February 4, 2020" (PDF). MMWR. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. 69 (5): 140–146. doi:10.15585/mmwr.mm6905e1. ISSN 0149-2195. PMID 32027631.

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