The COVID-19 International Timeline

[This is a developing story.]

Here’s a look at what has occurred around the world since the first cases of COVID-19 were confirmed last December.

 

DECEMBER 2019

December 31

• Chinese authorities alerts the World Health Organization (WHO) about several cases of unusual pneumonia in Wuhan City, Hubei Province. The cause is unknown, and most cases are connected to Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market.

 

JANUARY 2020

January 01

• As health experts work to identify the cause of the mystery disease, the number of infected exceeds 40. Chinese officials closed the Huanan seafood market.

January 07

• Chinese authorities identify the cause of the outbreak, a virus belonging to the coronavirus family (which includes SARS, MERS, and the common cold). The virus is named 2019-nCoV.

January 09

• China records the first death due to 2019-nCoV: a 61-year-old male.

January 13

• Thailand reports first case of 2019-nCov outside of China: a 61-year-old woman who arrived from Wuhan but had not visited the Huanan seafood market.

January 15

• China records second death linked to 2019-nCoV: a 69-year-old male.

January 16

• Japan reports first case of 2019-nCoV, and second outside of China: a 30-year-old Chinese national.

January 17

• Second death in Wuhan, China and second case in Thailand.

January 20

• First case in the United States of America is reported: a 35-year-old man from Washington.
• South Korea also confirms first case of 2019-nCoV.
• China reports third death linked to the new coronavirus. Also confirms first cases in Shenzhen (1 case) and Beijing (2 cases), bringing the total to 204 confirmed cases.
• Chinese health experts confirm human-to-human transmission.

January 21

• WHO confirms human-to-human transmission of the virus, as announced by Chinese experts.
• Chinese authorities reports fourth death linked to 2019-nCov. Total number of cases is 222.

January 22

• WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus convenes an emergency committee, which defers its decision on whether to declare the 2019-nCov outbreak as a global public health emergency.
• China’s National Health Commission confirms 580 cases of infected individuals. The death toll is now at 17, all reported from Hubei province.

January 23

• The cities of Wuhan, Xiantao, and Chibi in Hubei province are placed under quarantine; Wuhan suspends air and rail departures and shuts down public transportation.
• Later in the day, another city is on lockdown: Ezhou. Beijing cancels plans for Chinese New Year festivities and closes the Forbidden City.
• Singapore confirms first imported case, while Vietnam confirms two cases.

  

January 24

• Japan and the United States confirm second 2019-nCoV cases, while Nepal confirms its first case in the country.
• Total confirmed cases in China is now 1,287, with 237 in severe condition and 41 deaths.

January 25

• Australia confirms the first case of 2019-nCoV in the continent, with health authorities announcing three more cases later in the day.
• France confirms three cases, the first in Europe.
• Malaysia also reports the first four cases.
• Canada reports its first case.
• Thailand and Japan also confirm new cases.
• In China, 688 new cases are reported, bringing the total to 1,975. Cases with severe conditions rise to 324, and deaths to 56 in total.
• Hong Kong raises response to 2019-nCoV to the highest level, suspending all flights to and from Wuhan.

January 27

• Hong Kong denies entry to visitors with travel history from Hubei Province, China in the past 14 days.
• Authorities in Hubei suspend passport application and the provision of exit and entry permits in efforts to contain the spread of the virus.
• Cambodia, Germany, and Sri Lanka each confirm their first 2019-nCoV cases.
• Total confirmed cases in China is now 4,515, with 976 severe cases and 106 deaths, and 4,580 total cases globally.

January 28

• China agrees for WHO to send in international experts to help increase global understanding of the outbreak and guide response efforts.
• Confirmed cases in China rises to 5,974 with 132 deaths. Confirmed cases globally is over 6,000.

January 29

• The virus reaches the Middle East for the first time, with the United Arab Emirates reporting imported cases in a family of four.
• Finland also reports its first confirmed case.

January 30

• WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus declares the 2019-nCoV outbreak a global public-health emergency.
• The Philippines and India confirm their first 2019-nCoV cases.

January 31

• The United Kingdom, Russia, Sweden, and Spain confirm their first 2019-nCoV cases.
• President Trump bans foreign nationals from entering the United States if they were in China within the prior two weeks; declares the 2019-nCoV outbreak a public health emergency domestically.
• More countries apply border control measures against foreign nationals with recent travel history from China.

 

FEBRUARY 2020

February 01

• Confirmed cases in China climbs to 14,380 and the death toll rises above 300.

February 02

• The Philippines reports the first death outside China: a 44-year-old Chinese male, companion of the 38-year-old woman who tested positive for 2019-nCoV.
• The Philippines imposes travel ban for travelers coming from China, Hong Kong, and Macao, and a 14-day quarantine period for Philippine residents.

February 03

• In Hong Kong, hospital workers go on strike to demand total border closure with mainland China, where cases total to 20,438, bringing total confirmed cases globally to 20,625.

February 04

• Hong Kong reports its first death linked to the 2019-nCoV. The 39-year-old man had travel history from Wuhan. This is the second death reported outside mainland China, after the Philippines. Confirmed cases globally is over 24,000, and death toll is at 492.
• Belgium reports its first case of 2019-nCoV. The patient was one of the nine people repatriated from Wuhan.

February 05

• Global cases total over 28,000, with 565 deaths.
• Chinese state media Xinhua reports a newborn has been infected with the virus.
• Japan, now the highest among countries with confirmed cases outside China, confirms 10 passengers from a cruise ship currently docked in Yokohama tested positive for 2019-nCoV, bringing the total cases in Japan to 35.

February 06

• Malaysian authorities reports first known human-to-human transmission.
• People infected in Europe now total to 30.
• Total cases in China now at 31,161, with 636 deaths.

February 07

• Chinese whistle-blower Li Wenliang, a doctor who was among the first to raise the alarm over the coronavirus in China, dies.
• Hong Kong introduces prison sentences for anyone breaching quarantine rules.
• Confirmed cases in Japan grows to 86. Patients include non-Japanese citizens.

February 08

• US citizen dies in Wuhan. This is the first death of an American citizen.
• Five British citizens test positive for the virus at a ski resort in eastern France.

February 09

• The death toll of 2019-nCoV victims is recorded at 811, surpassing that of the 2002-2003 SARS epidemic, which killed 773 people.

February 10

• China has 908 confirmed deaths and a total of 40,171 infections.
• The global death count, now at 909, surpasses that associated with the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS), which killed 858 people.
• An advance team for the WHO-led 2019-nCoV international mission leaves for China.
• The U.K.’s health department declares 2019-nCoV an “imminent threat” to public health, allowing the government to quarantine individuals.

February 11

• WHO assigns new name for the 2019-nCov: COVID-19.
• Death toll from the outbreak is over 1,000.

February 12

• A total of 175 people test positive for COVID-19 on the Diamond Princess cruise ship, which is quarantined in Japan.

February 13

• Japan confirms its first death linked to the virus. This is the third death from the virus outside of mainland China.

February 14

• China reports that 1,716 health workers have contracted COVID-19 and that six of them have died.
• Egypt reports first case of COVID-19. This is the first case confirmed on the African continent and the first new country to see a case since February 4.
• France reported Europe’s first death from the virus: an 80-year-old tourist from Hubei province.

February 16

• Taiwan reports its first death from COVID-19. The fifth death from outside of China.

February 18

• There are 92 documented cases, in 12 countries, of human-to-human transmission of the virus.

February 19

• The death toll from COVID-19 surpasses 2,000.
• Iran confirms first COVID-19 cases. Also reports two deaths from the coronavirus. These are the first deaths in the Middle East.

February 20

• South Korea reports its first death from COVID-19. The number of confirmed cases in South Korea is at 104, the second highest number of confirmed cases outside of China. The new cases are concentrated in Daegu city and the surrounding North Gyeongsang province.

February 21

• Israel confirms first case of COVID-19: a woman who returned from the Diamond Princess cruise ship.
• Italy outbreak begins.
• Iran now has 18 confirmed cases and four deaths in the past two days.
• Lebanon confirms first case of COVID-19: a woman who arrived from Iran.
• Over 500 new cases of COVID-19 are traced to four prisons in China.

February 23

• Italy now has the highest number of confirmed COVID-19 cases outside of Asia.
• South Korean President Moon Jae-in announces the highest level of alert after the country surpasses 340 cases of COVID-19. This gives the government the power to take measures such as restricting public transportation and banning visitors from certain countries.

February 24

• Kuwait, Bahrain, Afghanistan, Iraq, and Oman report first cases of COVID-19.

February 25

• Algeria reports its first case of COVID-19, the second on the African continent: an Italian adult, who arrived in the country on February 17.
• Switzerland, Croatia, and Austria also report their first cases.

February 26

• Brazil confirms first case of COVID-19, the first case in South America.
• Greece, Georgia, North Macedonia, Norway, Romania, and Pakistan also report their first cases of COVID-19.

February 27

• The number of infections globally continues to grow. There are 3,474 cases of COVID-19— including 54 deaths—outside of China in 44 countries.
• Denmark, Estonia, San Marino, and the Netherlands report first cases of the virus.

February 28

• The WHO raises the global risk of spread of COVID-19 from “high” to “very high.” Says it is not yet time to declare a pandemic.
• Nigeria, New Zealand, Belarus, Mexico, Lithuania, Azerbaijan, Ireland, Wales, and Iceland report their first COVID-19 cases.

February 29

• Ecuador, Qatar, Monaco, and Luxembourg report first cases of COVID-19.
• The US reports first death on American soil.

 

MARCH 2020

March 01

• Czech Republic and Armenia report their first cases of COVID-19.
• The Dominican Republic also reports the first confirmed case of COVID-19, the first confirmed case in the Caribbean. The patient is a 62-year-old Italian man who arrived in the country on February 22.
• South Korea and Italy have the most cases outside of China, with 3,736 cases and 1,128 cases respectively.

March 02

• Indonesia, Senegal, Portugal, Andora, Latvia, Jordan, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, and Tunisia report first cases of COVID-19.

March 03

• COVID-19 outbreak begins in Spain.
• Argentina, Ukraine, and Chile report their first cases of COVID-19.

March 04

• Poland reports its first case of COVID-19.
• According to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), COVID-19 has disrupted the education of 290.5 million students globally, which includes school closure in 13 countries.

March 05

• Saudi Arabia records its first COVID-19 case.

March 06

• Bosnia and Herzegovina, Slovenia, South Africa, and Palestine report their first cases of COVID-19.

March 07

• The number of COVID-19 confirmed cases surpasses 100,000.
• Malta, Moldova, Paraguay, and the Maldives record first cases of COVID-19.

March 08

• Italy places Lombardy and 14 other areas in the north on lockdown.
• Saudi imposes a lockdown on the eastern Qatif region and declares the suspension of all schools and universities across the country.
• Bulgaria and Bangladesh report first cases of COVID-19.
• Over 100 countries report cases of COVID-19.

March 09

• Albania, Cyprus, Burkina Faso, and Panama report first cases of COVID-19.

March 10

• Lebanon and Morocco report their first deaths due to COVID-19.
• Turkey, Ivory Coast, Honduras, Brunei Darussalam, Democratic Republic of Congo, Bolivia, Jamaica, Panama, and Mongolia report first cases of COVID-19.

March 11

• WHO declares the coronavirus outbreak a pandemic.
• The US President bans all travel from 26 European countries.
• Confirmed cases in Qatar spike from 24 to 262 in a single day.

March 12

• The Pacific reports first case of COVID-19. The patient is a French Polynesian politician who recently returned from Paris.
• A diplomat from the Philippines tests positive for COVID-19, the first case at the United Nations headquarters in New York City.
• Trinidad and Tobago, Ghana, and Gabon confirm first cases of COVID-19.

March 13

• Kazakhstan, Sudan, Puerto Rico, Venezuela, Antigua and Barbuda, Ethiopia, Guinea, Kenya, Uruguay, Guatemala, St. Lucia, Suriname, and Mauritania report first cases of COVID-19.
• The United States of America declares national emergency over COVID-19 outbreak.

March 14

• Namibia, Central African Republic, Republic of Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Rwanda, Seychelles, and Eswatini confirm first cases of COVID-19.

March 15

• Uzbekistan and the Bahamas confirm first cases of COVID-19.

March 16

• Somalia, Benin, Liberia, and Tanzania report first cases of COVID-19.

March 17

• Montenegro, Barbados, Gambia, and Montserrat report first cases of COVID-19.
• WHO confirms two staff members at its Geneva headquarters tested positive with COVID-19.

March 18

• Kyrgyzstan, Djibouti, Zambia, El Salvador, and Nicaragua confirm first cases of COVID-19.

March 19

• Mauritius, Fiji, Chad, Niger, and Haiti report first cases of COVID-19.
• For the first time since the outbreak, China reports no new locally spread infections.

March 20

• Papua New Guinea, Cape Verde, Zimbabwe, and Madagascar report first cases of COVID-19.
• Death toll due to COVID-19 surges past 10,000 globally.

March 21

• East Timor, Angola, and Eritrea confirm first cases of COVID-19.
• Italy reports 4,825 fatalities amid 53,578 cases, making Europe the epicentre of the pandemic.
• Ecuador’s health and labour ministers resign after COVID-19 cases in the country surpass 500.

March 22

• Palestinian health officials announce first two COVID-19 cases in the Gaza Strip.
• Uganda, Grenada, Mozambique, Dominica, and Syria also report first cases of COVID-19.
• The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases globally surpass 300,000.

March 23, 2020

• Myanmar and Belize report first cases of COVID-19.
• New York City, the biggest epicenter of the outbreak in the US, reports 21,000 cases.

March 24

• Libya and Laos report first cases of COVID-19.
• The cases of COVID-19 surpass 400,000. It took over three months to reach the first 100,000 confirmed cases, 12 days to reach 200,000, three days to reach 300,000, and two days to reach 400,000.
• India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi imposed a 21-day lockdown, the largest lockdown since the beginning of the outbreak.

March 25

• Saint Kitts and Nevis, Guinea-Bissau, British Virgin Islands, and Mali report first cases of COVID-19.

March 26

• Anguilla reports first cases of COVID-19.
• Confirmed cases in the US surpass those of Italy and China, making it the new epicenter of the pandemic.
• Total confirmed cases in the US is 82,404; 81,782 in China; and 80,589 in Italy.

March 27

• Kenya, Kazakhstan, and Honduras report their first deaths.
• India and South Africa also impose lockdowns.
• U.K. Prime Minister Boris Johnson tests positive for COVID-19.

March 28

• Cases of COVID-19 worldwide surpass 600,000.
• US health officials in Illinois confirm death of a baby due to COVID-19, the first death of an infant in the country due to the coronavirus disease.

March 29

• Global death toll from COVID-19 surpasses 30,000.
• Death toll in Italy surges past 10,000.

March 30

• Botswana reports its first cases of COVID-19.

March 31

• Burundi and Sierra Leone report first cases of COVID-19.
• More than 1/3 of the world’s population is under some form of quarantine.

APRIL 2020

April 01

• United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres warns the world about the “worst crisis” brought by the COVID-19 pandemic as global confirmed cases surpass one million and the death toll at 50,000.

April 02

• Malawi confirms its first cases of COVID-19.
• According to WHO, all provinces in South Africa have confirmed cases. There are also widespread outbreaks in Burkina Faso, Cameroon, and Senegal.

April 05

• South Sudan reports first case of COVID-19.
• The United States now has the highest number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the world. Italy comes in second.
• Iran, the worst-hit country in the Middle East, reports a total confirmed cases of 58,226 and a death toll of 3,603.

April 06

• The death toll in Europe from COVID-19 surpasses 50,000.

April 07

• Japan declares a state of emergency, while Singapore began a partial lockdown.
• Cases of COVID-19 in Africa surpass 10,000 with over 500 deaths.

April 08

• China lifts lockdown on Wuhan City.
• South Sudan records second case of COVID-19: another U.N. staff member.

April 10

• Yemen reports its first case of COVID-19.
• The U.K. records new 980 deaths due to COVID-19.
• The death toll due to COVID-19 in the world surpasses 100,000.

April 11

• The United States records over 2,000 deaths in one day, the highest death rate recorded during the pandemic and surpassing Italy’s death toll of 19, 468.
• Confirmed cases in the U.S. reach 519,000.

April 13

• CCN reports that China imposed restrictions on the publication of researches that focus on the origins of COVID-19.

April 14

• India and France extend a nationwide lockdown.
• Taiwan reports no new cases for the first time in more than a month.
• The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases on the African continent is now past 15,000.

April 15

• The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases worldwide surpasses 2 million.

April 17

• WHO emphasizes that there is still no evidence that someone who had COVID-19 and recovered is immune from the disease.
• Confirmed COVID-19 cases in Cameroon surpass 1,000.

April 18

• Singapore confirms new 942 cases, bringing its total to almost 6,000.

April 19

• The death toll in Europe due to COVID-19 surpasses 100,000.
• Turkey surpasses Iran for most number of confirmed cases of COVD-19 in the Middle East, with 86,306 cases.

April 20

• A WHO worker transporting COVID-19 test samples in Myanmar is killed by a gunfire.
• For the first time, WHO translates its press conference in all U.N. official languages: Arabic, Chinese, French, Russian, and Spanish. It will also add Swahili and Hindi soon.
• Despite the official guidance to practice physical distancing, US protesters hold anti-lockdown rallies against the Trump administration.

April 21

• The number of global cases surpasses 2.5 million; and in the US, confirmed cases now surpasses 800,000.
• A person in California was found to have died on February 06 due to COVID-19; this was three weeks earlier than to what the authorities reported as the first American pandemic death.
• Abdi Mahamud, WHO COVID-19 incident manager for Western Pacific, confirms during a press conference that health worker infections from COVID-19 in the Philippines is 13% compared to the estimated average of 2-3% in the region.

April 22

• During a press conference, WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus says that outbreaks in Western Europe “appear to be stable or declining.”
• In Lebanon, a Palestinian woman from Syria tests positive for COVID-19, the first identified case in the country’s refugee camps.
• The United States records the highest single-day death toll worldwide: more than 2,600.

April 23

• South Africa, the most affected country in Africa, records 3,300 cases. The African continent reports over 25,000 confirmed cases.

April 24

• WHO launches the Access to COVID-19 Tools Accelerator (ATC), a global initiative to speed up the development and production of vaccines, diagnostics, and therapeutics in the fight against COVID-19.
• The U.S. death toll surpasses 50,000.

April 25

• The new number of confirmed deaths globally surpasses 200,000.

April 26

• The U.N. launched a knowledge hub for the COVID-19 response in Africa.
• Kenya records COVID-19 cases in the Nairobi informal settlement of Kibera.
• Wuhan City reports it has no remaining active cases of COVID-19 in its hospitals.
• Saudi Arabia partially lifts the curfew in all of its regions, whilst keeping a 24-hour curfew in Mecca and previously isolated neighborhoods.

April 27

• The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases worldwide surpasses 3 million.

April 28

• Countries around the world ease COVID-19 lockdown, including Australia, Iran, New Zealand, and Spain.
• The number of COVID-19 cases in the U.S. surpasses one million, one-third of cases worldwide, with 57,000 deaths.
• In Germany, the number of confirmed cases begin to rise again.

April 29

• Following the gradual loosening of lockdown, Bosnia records its highest daily cases – 93, with two deaths.

April 30

• The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases globally is past 3.2 million with 232,000 deaths, and more than one million known recoveries.
• Tajikistan and Comoros record their first cases of COVID-19.
• Russian Prime Minister tests positive for COVID-19. Russia has more than 100,000 confirmed cases.

 

MAY 2020

May 02

• Russia reports a one-day record of 9,623 new confirmed cases.
• India records its highest daily rise of COVID-19 cases: 2,293.
• The number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Africa exceeds 40,000.
• Spain eases on its lockdown, allowing residents to go for walks or play sport.

May 03

• A French hospital reports that after it retested samples from pneumonia patients, it found a man with COVID-19 as early as December 27, 2019. The French authorities reported its first three confirmed cases on January 24.

May 04

• A plane carrying humanitarian supplies to assist in the fight against the COVID-19 crashed near Somalia, killing six people on board.
• More countries ease on lockdowns including Malaysia, India, Nigeria, Ghana, and Cameroon but continue to ban mass gatherings.

 

May 05

• The U.K. reports more than 30,000 deaths, the highest official death toll in Europe.

May 09

• Worldwide, the number of confirmed cases surpasses 4 million.
• In Africa, almost 1,000 health workers are infected with COVID-19.
• According to data from the Johns Hopkins University, only 34% of all confirmed cases worldwide are reported to have recovered.

May 10

• The Chinese government reports first case in Wuhan since the lifting of lockdown in the city.

 

References:

https://www.devex.com/news/covid-19-a-timeline-of-the-coronavirus-outbreak-96396

https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/01/timeline-china-coronavirus-spread-200126061554884.html

https://www.businessinsider.com/coronavirus-pandemic-timeline-history-major-events-2020-3

 

Banner photo by Giacomo Carra on Unsplash.

 

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