January 2020
Jan. 1
-- The NHC set up a leading group to determine the emergency response to the epidemic. The group convened meetings on a daily basis since then.
Jan. 2
-- The Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (China CDC) and the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences (CAMS) received the first batch of samples of four patients from Hubei Province and began pathogen identification.
-- The NHC came up with a set of guidelines on early discovery, early diagnosis and early quarantine for the prevention and control of the viral pneumonia of unknown cause.
Jan. 3
-- Starting Jan. 3, China has been regularly informing the WHO, relevant countries and regions and China's Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan about the pneumonia outbreak.
-- China began to inform the United States of the pneumonia outbreak and response measures on a regular basis.
-- The Wuhan Municipal Health Commission updated briefing on its website about the situation of viral pneumonia of unknown cause, reporting a total of 44 cases of viral pneumonia of unknown cause.
-- The NHC organized the China CDC and three other institutions to carry out parallel laboratory testing of the samples for pathogen identification.
-- The NHC and the Health Commission of Hubei Province jointly worked out nine documents on the outbreak, including a trial version of guidelines on the diagnosis and treatment of viral pneumonia of unknown cause.
Jan. 4
-- The NHC and relevant health departments in Hubei Province issued a treatment manual for viral pneumonia of unknown cause to all medical institutions in Wuhan City, and provided citywide training.
-- Head of the China CDC talked over phone with director of the U.S. CDC about the pneumonia outbreak. The two sides agreed to keep in close contact for information sharing and technological cooperation.
Jan. 5
-- The Wuhan Municipal Health Commission updated briefing on the situation of viral pneumonia of unknown cause, reporting a total of 59 cases. Laboratory test results ruled out respiratory pathogens, such as influenza, avian influenza, adenovirus, the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus, and Middle East Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus, as the cause.
-- China informed the WHO about the outbreak updates.
-- The WHO released its first briefing on cases of pneumonia of unknown cause in Wuhan.
Jan. 6
-- The NHC gave a briefing on cases of pneumonia of unknown cause at a national health conference, calling for efforts to strengthen monitoring, analysis and study, and make timely response.
Jan. 7
-- Xi Jinping, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, made instructions on epidemic response when presiding over a meeting of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee.
-- The China CDC succeeded in isolating the first novel coronavirus strain.
Jan. 8
-- An expert evaluation team from the NHC initially identified a new coronavirus as the cause of the epidemic.
-- Heads of China and U.S. CDCs talked over phone to discuss technological exchanges and cooperation.
Jan. 9
-- An expert team from the NHC made public of the pathogen, saying a new type of coronavirus was initially identified as the cause of the viral pneumonia in Wuhan.
-- China informed the WHO about the epidemic, sharing with the WHO the initial progress in determining the cause of the viral pneumonia in Wuhan.
-- The WHO released on its website a statement regarding a cluster of pneumonia cases in Wuhan, saying that preliminary identification of a novel coronavirus in a short period of time is a notable achievement.
Jan. 10
-- Research institutions including the Wuhan Institute of Virology(WIV) developed testing kits. Wuhan City organized tests of all relevant cases admitted at hospitals in the city.
-- Head of the NHC Ma Xiaowei talked over phone with WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus about the epidemic response.
-- Head of China CDC exchanged information over phone with WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
-- The China CDC shared with the WHO the specific primers and probes for detecting the novel coronavirus.
Jan. 11
-- The Wuhan Municipal Health Commission updated briefing on the situation of viral pneumonia of unknown cause.
Jan. 12
-- The Wuhan Municipal Health Commission changed the name of "viral pneumonia of unknown cause" to "pneumonia caused by the novel coronavirus" for the first time in a briefing.
-- The China CDC, the CAMS and the WIV under the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), as designated agencies of the NHC, submitted to the WHO the genome sequence of the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV), which was published by the Global Initiative on Sharing All Influenza Data (GISAID) and shared globally.
-- The NHC shared with the WHO about information on the genome sequence of the novel coronavirus.
Jan. 13
-- The NHC held a meeting to instruct Wuhan authorities to further strengthen social management measures and body temperature monitoring of people at ports and stations, as well as reduce crowd gathering.
-- Delegations from the Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions and Taiwan visited Wuhan (until Jan. 14.)
-- Wuhan Municipal Health Commission updated the outbreak briefing on its official website, saying Wuhan had reported a total of 41 cases of pneumonia caused by the novel coronavirus as of Jan. 12.
-- The WHO issued on its official website a statement on the discovery of the novel coronavirus cases in Thailand, pointing out that China's sharing of the genome sequence enabled more countries to quickly diagnose patients.
Jan. 14
-- The NHC held a national teleconference, making arrangements for Hubei Province and Wuhan City to strengthen epidemic prevention and control, while ordering the whole country to prepare for epidemic prevention and response.
Jan. 15
-- The NHC unveiled the first version of guidelines on diagnosis and treatment for pneumonia caused by novel coronavirus, along with the guidelines on prevention and control measures.
Jan.16
-- After the optimization of Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) diagnostic reagents was complete, Wuhan City took proactive measures to screen all patients treated in fever clinics or under medical observation in 69 secondary or above hospitals.
-- Foreign journalists asked about the epidemic for the first time at a press conference held by the Chinese foreign ministry in Beijing. Foreign ministry spokesperson said that China has timely informed the WHO and other international organizations of the outbreak and kept close communication with them.
Jan. 17
-- The NHC sent seven inspection teams to different provincial-level regions to instruct local epidemic prevention and control work.
Jan. 18
-- The NHC organized and sent a high-level expert team, headed by Zhong Nanshan, to Wuhan City to carry out on-site investigation into the prevention and control work (until Jan. 19).
-- The NHC released the second version of guidelines on the diagnosis and treatment for the pneumonia caused by the novel coronavirus.
Jan. 19
-- The NHC distributed nucleic acid testing reagents to health departments across the country.
-- The China CDC communicated with the U.S. CDC on epidemic prevention and control.
-- Wuhan Municipal Health Commission updated the outbreak briefing on its official website, saying as of Jan. 17, Wuhan had reported a total of 62 confirmed cases, including 19 cases discharged after recovery, eight cases with severe symptoms, and two deaths.
Jan. 20
-- Xinhua News Agency reported that Chinese President Xi Jinping, also general secretary of CPC Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, has made important instructions on the outbreak of pneumonia caused by the novel coronavirus in Wuhan City and other places in Hubei Province, stressing the Party committees and governments at all levels must put people's safety and health as the top priority, make thorough plans, take effective measures to curb the spread of the virus, timely release information and deepen international cooperation.
--Xinhua News Agency reported that Premier Li Keqiang chaired an executive meeting of the State Council to make further arrangements on the prevention and control work of the pneumonia outbreak caused by the novel coronavirus.
-- A teleconference of the joint prevention and control mechanism of the State Council was held in Beijing, at which Vice Premier Sun Chunlan stressed local authorities must take their responsibilities, strengthen the prevention and control measures, secure people's health, and maintain normal production and everyday life order.
-- Wuhan Municipal Health Commission updated the outbreak briefing on its official website: as of 10 p.m. on Jan. 19, Wuhan reported a total of 198 cases of pneumonia caused by the novel coronavirus, with 25 cured and discharged cases, three deaths.
-- The NHC held a press conference for the high-level expert team headed by Zhong Nanshan, who on the team's behalf confirmed human-to-human transmission of the novel coronavirus and called on people not to go to Wuhan except for extremely important reasons.
-- The NHC released a statement to classify the novel coronavirus pneumonia as a category B infectious disease under the law on prevention and control of infectious diseases, but take preventive and control measures of category A infectious diseases; the novel coronavirus pneumonia was put under quarantinable infectious disease management according to the Frontier Health and Quarantine Law.
-- The NHC published the second version of guidelines on the prevention and control of the novel coronavirus pneumonia.
-- Researchers from City University of Hong Kong published a genetic analysis on the bioRxiv preprint platform, suggesting what animals that serve as the transmission vehicle of the 2019-nCoV remains to be identified.
Zhong Nanshan (C), renowned Chinese respiratory specialist, speaks during a press conference in Guangzhou, south China's Guangdong Province, Jan. 21, 2020. The People's Government of Guangdong Province held a press briefing on Jan. 21 on the pneumonia outbreak and epidemic prevention and control measures. (Xinhua/Huang Guobao)
Jan. 21
-- The NHC started to update via its official website and its new media platform the epidemic information of the previous day on a daily basis. It had updated 71 times by March 31. Starting on Feb. 3, the English official website of the NHC started releasing epidemic information simultaneously, updating the data for 58 times by March 31.
-- A foreign ministry spokesperson said China will, upon invitation from the WHO, send representatives to attend an International Health Regulations (IHR) Emergency Committee meeting.
-- The People's Government of Guangdong Province held a press briefing on the pneumonia outbreak and epidemic prevention and control measures. Zhong Nanshan told the briefing that "since it is known that the virus can be transmitted from people to people, one thing to do is to strictly quarantine patients and track close contacts, which is probably the most important thing," adding that there has been thus far no targeted and effective drugs against the novel coronavirus.
-- The WHO published a statement on its official website saying on Jan. 20-21, a WHO delegation conducted a field visit to Wuhan to learn about the response to 2019 novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) and visited the Wuhan Tianhe Airport, Zhongnan hospital, Hubei provincial CDC.
Chinese experts shared with Gauden Galea, the WHO Representative in China, Olowokure Babatunde and other members of the delegation a range of protocols that will be used in developing international guidelines, including case definitions, clinical management, and infection control among others.
-- The China CDC Weekly reported for the first time the epidemiological characteristics of the novel coronavirus, displaying the whole genome sequence of three strains of the virus, in an article titled “Note from the Field: A Novel Coronavirus Genome Identified in a Cluster of Pneumonia Cases - Wuhan, China 2019-2020."
-- Researchers from the Institut Pasteur of Shanghai under the CAS, the Institute of Military Medicine under the Academy of Military Sciences, and the CAS Center for Excellence in Molecular Plant Sciences published a paper in the English version of "Science China Life Science," titled "Evolution of the novel coronavirus from the ongoing Wuhan outbreak and modeling of its spike protein for risk of human transmission," evaluating the potential human-to-human transmission capacity of the virus, providing scientific theoretical basis for confirming the source and transmission route of infection as soon as possible and formulating prevention and control strategies.
Jan. 22
-- Chinese President Xi Jinping talked over phone with French President Emmanuel Macron at request.
Macron said that France supports China in actively dealing with the epidemic and is willing to enhance health cooperation with the Chinese side.
Xi said that since the outbreak, China has taken strict measures in prevention, control and treatment, and has been releasing relevant information to the public and keeping the World Health Organization as well as relevant countries and regions informed in a timely manner.
China is willing to work with the international community to effectively tackle the spread of the disease and maintain global health security, Xi said.
-- Chinese President Xi Jinping talked over phone with German Chancellor Angela Merkel at request.
Merkel said Germany appreciates China's efforts to respond in a timely manner, stay open and transparent, and actively carry out international cooperation, adding that Germany is willing to provide China with support and assistance.
Xi expressed his gratitude to Germany, stressing that China is willing to strengthen cooperation with Germany, the WHO and the international community.
-- The NHC published the third version of guidelines on the diagnosis and treatment of novel coronavirus pneumonia, detailing the use of traditional Chinese medicine in treatment.
-- The State Council Information Office held a press conference about epidemic and the prevention and control work, advising people outside Wuhan not to go to the city in principle and Wuhan residents not to leave the city without special reasons.
-- At the invitation of the WHO, China attended an International Health Regulations (IHR) Emergency Committee meeting along with other countries affected by the epidemic. Participating countries, the WHO and experts shared information on the epidemic and conducted scientific research and assessment of the epidemic at the meeting.
-- China's NHC received a notification from the United States saying the first confirmed case had been reported in the United States.
-- The China CDC weekly for the first time reported the epidemiological investigation results of the pneumonia caused by the novel coronavirus in Wuhan in an article titled “Note from the Field: An Outbreak of NCIP (2019-nCoV) Infection in China - Wuhan, Hubei Province 2019-2020."
-- Researchers from the MRC-University of Glasgow Centre for Virus Research and the Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University, posted their sequence analysis of the 2019-nCoV on a medical discussion forum Virological, suggesting the novel coronavirus may have originated in bats rather than snakes.
-- The 2019 Novel Coronavirus Resource (2019nCoVR), a database develop by the China National Center for Bioinformation, was officially launched to release worldwide novel coronavirus genome and information on variation analysis.
Aerial photo taken on Jan. 23, 2020 shows the closed Wuhan Railway Station in Wuhan, central China's Hubei Province. Central China's megacity of Wuhan announced on Jan. 23 to suspend public transportation and close the airport and railway stations to outgoing passengers, while asking citizens not to leave the city without specific reasons. (Xinhua/Cheng Min)
Jan. 23
-- Wuhan epidemic prevention and control headquarters issued a notice to shut down the city's outbound channels at airports and railway stations starting 10 a.m. on Jan. 23.
-- In an emergency notice, the Ministry of Transport demanded other parts of the country suspend the passenger traffic into Wuhan by road or by waterway.
-- The NHC and other five departments jointly issued a statement on preventing the transmission of the novel coronavirus-caused pneumonia via transportation, requiring efforts for health management of vehicles, trains, planes and other means of transport, as well as key places including stations, airports and docks to prevent to the greatest extent the spread of the epidemic.
-- Researchers from WIV under the CAS, Wuhan Jinyintan Hospital and the Hubei Provincial CDC found that the full-length genome sequences of the 2019-nCoV shares 79.5 percent of SARS-CoV sequence, which was published on the bioRxiv preprint platform.
Jan. 24
-- Researchers from the Beijing-based China-Japan Friendship Hospital, the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences and the Wuhan Jinyintan Hospital published an article in the Lancet, titled "Clinical features of patients infected with 2019 novel coronavirus in Wuhan, China.”
-- WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on social media thanked the Chinese government for its cooperation and transparency, saying that the Chinese government has been successful in isolating and sequencing the virus very quickly and has shared that genetic sequence with the WHO and the international community.
-- The National Microbiology Data Center and the National Pathogen Resources Collection Center jointly established the Novel Coronavirus National Science and Technology Resource Service System, releasing the first electron microscope picture of the virus and strain information.
Jan. 25
-- Xinhua News Agency reported that Xi Jinping, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, chaired a meeting of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee on the prevention and control of the outbreak of pneumonia caused by the novel coronavirus, making further study of and new arrangements on issues especially related to the treatment of patients.
The meeting decided to set up a CPC Central Committee leading group for the epidemic response work under the leadership of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee.
The CPC Central Committee decided to send guidance groups to Hubei Province and other seriously affected areas to enhance the frontline prevention and control work.
-- The NHC unveiled six guidelines on public prevention for general use, tourism, households, public places, public transport and self observation at home.
-- The NHC replied in a letter to WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, welcoming the WHO to send a group of international experts to cooperate with China to strengthen epidemic prevention and control.
-- Led by the China CDC, several hospitals and research institutes jointly published a paper, titled "The novel coronavirus carried by Chinese pneumonia patients in 2019,"revealing their finding of a Betacoronavirus that had never been seen before through whole genome sequencing, which became the seventh member of the coronavirus family that infects human.
Journalists attend a press conference on the prevention and control of the novel coronavirus outbreak held by the State Council Information Office, in Beijing, capital of China, on Jan. 26, 2020. (Xinhua/Cai Yang)
Jan. 26
-- Xinhua News Agency reported that Chinese Premier Li Keqiang, also a member of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, and head of the leading group of the CPC Central Committee on the response to the novel coronavirus outbreak, presided over the leading group's meeting. The meeting made further epidemic prevention and control arrangements according to instructions by Xi Jinping, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee.
-- The State Council Information Office held a press conference to invite the NHC head Ma Xiaowei to brief on the epidemic and introduce the joint prevention and control work.
Ma told the press conference recent clinical results showed that the novel coronavirus has more transmissibility and the epidemic situation is grim and complicated, adding that the country is at a crucial time in the prevention and control of the outbreak.
Ma said that the source of infection is yet to be found and studies are still needed to understand its pathogenicity, adding that the possibility of virus changes over time can't be ruled out.
-- The NHC and relevant departments jointly provided detailed information to the WHO Western Pacific Region on measures taken in Wuhan may restrict international travel, including the suspended operation of city buses, subways and ferries, as well as public health reasons for the above measures.
Jan. 27
-- A guidance group, sent by the CPC Central Committee and headed by Vice Premier Sun Chunlan, arrived in Wuhan to guide the epidemic prevention and control work in Hubei Province, repeatedly demanding open and transparent release of epidemic information.
-- The NHC released the fourth version of guidelines on the diagnosis and treatment of novel coronavirus pneumonia.
-- Under the joint prevention and control mechanism of the State Council, a press conference was held in Beijing to give briefings on the development of the community-based prevention measures to curb the novel coronavirus epidemic.
Such press conference has been held every day since Jan. 27, releasing updated data on a daily basis, including new confirmed cases, people discharged from hospital, people who had had close contact with infected patients and were discharged from medical observation, severe cases, deaths, suspected cases, people receiving treatment in quarantine, close contacts still under medical observation, accumulative data on the Chinese mainland as well as data reported in the Hong Kong and Macao special administrative regions and Taiwan.
As of March 31, 65 press conferences under the mechanism had been held on a wide range of topics, including the epidemic prevention and control, treatment and scientific research. Officials of 69 departments answered 779 questions raised by Chinese and foreign reporters at the conferences.
-- Head of China's NHC Ma Xiaowei talked over phone with U.S. secretary of health and human services Alex Azar at request, discussing the prevention and control of the novel coronavirus outbreak.
Chinese President Xi Jinping meets with visiting World Health Organization (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, capital of China, Jan. 28, 2020. (Xinhua/Ju Peng)
Jan. 28
-- Chinese President Xi Jinping met with WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus in Beijing.
"The epidemic is a devil. We will not let it hide," Xi said, stressing the Chinese government has released information about the epidemic in a timely, open, transparent and responsible manner, actively responded to concerns of all sides, and enhanced cooperation with the international community.
Xi noted that China is ready to work with the WHO as well as the international community to safeguard regional and global public health security.
-- The NHC released the third-edition guidelines on the prevention and control of the novel coronavirus pneumonia.
Members of a medical team heading for Wuhan of Hubei Province board the plane in Xining, northwest China's Qinghai Province, Jan. 28, 2020. Under the joint prevention and control mechanism of the State Council, a press conference was held in Beijing on details of medical workers sent from other parts of China to Hubei Province to help fight the epidemic. (Xinhua/Zhang Long)
-- Under the joint prevention and control mechanism of the State Council, a press conference was held in Beijing on details of medical workers sent from other parts of China to Hubei Province to help fight the epidemic.
-- The Ministry of Foreign Affairs held a briefing for foreign embassies and missions in China on the prevention and control of the novel coronavirus outbreak. The NHC and the foreign ministry briefed on the current situation and China's efforts to prevent and control the epidemic, and answered questions. Foreign diplomats and representatives present made positive comments on the briefing held by the Chinese side, and appreciated the Chinese government's firm and decisive measures in handling the epidemic, as well as the open, transparent and responsible attitude it has shown. They said that they are willing to strengthen communication and coordination with the Chinese side, and cooperate with China in prevention and control efforts to jointly safeguard regional and international health security.
Jan. 29
-- Xinhua News Agency reported that Li Keqiang presided over a meeting of the leading group of the CPC Central Committee on the response to the novel coronavirus outbreak to further study the prevention and control of the epidemic, and roll out targeted and enhanced measures to curb the epidemic.
-- Yang Jiechi, a member of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee, also head of the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commission of the CPC Central Committee, spoke over phone with U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. Pompeo expressed appreciation for China's timely response to U.S. concerns after the epidemic.
-- Under the joint prevention and control mechanism of the State Council, a press conference was held in Beijing to advise the public on the prevention of the novel coronavirus outbreak.
-- A thesis on the genome sequence of the novel coronavirus by a research team of the WIV of the CAS was formally accepted by the journal Nature.
-- The China CDC published an epidemiological feature analysis of the novel coronavirus pneumonia outbreak in the New England Journal of Medicine.
-- Researchers from the Wuhan Jinyintan Hospital, Shanghai Jiaotong University School of Medicine and WIV under the CAS published an article in the Lancet, titled "Epidemiological and clinical characteristics of 99 cases of 2019 novel coronavirus pneumonia in Wuhan, China: a descriptive study", revealing data regarding clinical features and treatment of novel coronavirus patients.
--Researchers from the China CDC published a paper in the Lancet, titled "Genomic characterization and epidemiology of 2019 novel coronavirus: implications for virus origins and receptor binding," analyzing 10 genome sequences of 2019-nCoV obtained from nine confirmed patients in Wuhan.
-- Research team of Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica under the CAS published an article on the bioRxiv preprint platform, revealing research results about drugs by computer-simulated screening.
-- Researchers of the Institute of Automation under the CAS published an article on the medRxiv preprint platform, estimating the development trend of the epidemic based on the daily reported novel coronavirus cases by the China CDC.
Jan. 30
-- Under the joint prevention and control mechanism of the State Council, a press conference was held in Beijing on policies to ensure transportation of anti-epidemic materials in the fight against the novel coronavirus outbreak.
-- China's NHC notified the U.S. side that American experts are welcomed to join the China-WHO joint mission. The U.S. side responded the same day and expressed their appreciation.
-- The China CDC published a paper in the New England Journal of Medicine, titled "Early Transmission Dynamics in Wuhan, China, of Novel Coronavirus-Infected Pneumonia," revealing the epidemiological characteristics of the 2019-nCoV on the basis of data collected from the first 425 confirmed cases.
Jan. 31
-- Xinhua News Agency reported that Li Keqiang presided over a meeting of the leading group of the CPC Central Committee on the prevention and control of the novel coronavirus outbreak, making arrangements for the transportation for the post-Spring Festival trips while enhancing the epidemic prevention and control.
-- The NHC released guidelines on gathering patients infected with novel coronavirus that show severe symptoms into designated medical institutions for treatment, in order to minimize the fatality rate and increase the recovery rate.
-- Under the joint prevention and control mechanism of the State Council, a press conference was held in Beijing on the epidemic prevention and control work concerning major groups and by community organizations.
Chinese researchers have published a series of academic papers on their early findings of the novel coronavirus that has claimed over 50 lives and infected nearly 2,000 people nationwide in China. A paper published recently in the New England Journal of Medicine showed the electron micrographs of the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV). The virus particles were generally spherical, with some pleomorphism. Their diameters varied from about 60 to 140 nanometers. They had quite distinctive spikes, about 9 to 12 nanometers, which gave them the appearance of a solar corona, according to the paper.
Chinese scientists have shared scientific data related to the novel coronavirus with the world and will seek more international cooperation. With the epidemic now entering a mitigation phase in China, they plan to hold seminars to communicate with international institutions and scientists to listen to their suggestions and understand their needs for data.
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