Skip to main content

New story in Health from Time: A Timeline of How the Wuhan Coronavirus Has Spread—And How the World Has Reacted



A new virus has emerged from central China, infecting thousands with severe respiratory illness and killing dozens. Health officials, doctors and researchers are scrambling to contain the outbreak.

As of publication, there are over 8,200 confirmed cases globally, and over 170 deaths attributed to the infection, the vast majority in China. Zoom into and hover over the maps below for details on those confirmed cases.

In just under a month, the coronavirus has triggered a series of events, from entry port screenings to complete lockdown of affected cities. Below is a timeline showing how the virus sprouted from one city to become a health crisis that is being addressed on a global scale.

Dec. 31, 2019: The animal-to-human jump

Several people in Wuhan, the capital and largest city in Hubei province, report symptoms caused by a virus that is later tied to the Huanan Seafood Market, which sells primarily fish and shellfish, but also wild game like beavers, porcupines and snakes. It’s still not clear in what animal 2019-nCoV originated.

Jan. 7, 2020: Cause identified

Chinese health authorities announced they had isolated the pathogen. 2019-nCoV as it is called, belongs to the coronavirus family, which includes SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome) and MERS (Middle East respiratory syndrome), and spreads via airborne droplets.

Jan. 9, 2020: First fatality

Officials announce the first 2019-nCoV-related death, recorded in Wuhan. To date, there have been 171 deaths, all in China. While that makes for a relatively low mortality rate compared to SARS, for example, it’s still alarming.

A day later, the Chinese government posts the genetic blueprint for 2019-nCoV online. Meanwhile, as people travel around China, the virus spreads outside Hubei province.

 

Jan. 13-15, 2020: International exposure

Health officials in Thailand and Japan announce that they have confirmed 2019-nCoV infections in travelers in their respective countries, the first outside of China. The two countries begin to screen anyone arriving from Wuhan.

Jan. 17, 2020: Passenger screening

The U.S. begins airport health checks on all travelers from Wuhan and, later, all travelers from China. Four days later, on Jan. 21, officials confirmed that a man in Washington State, who had recently returned from a trip to the Wuhan area, was infected with the novel coronavirus.

Jan. 23, 2020: City quarantined

Chinese officials suspend travel in and out of Wuhan, a city of over 10 million. Similar travel bans follow in other cities in Hubei province, affecting a total of about 50 million people.

Jan. 24, 2020: Hospitals overwhelmed

In response to the increasing numbers of sick patients in Wuhan, which are straining hospital staff and depleting medical supplies, the Chinese government breaks ground on the Huoshenshan Hospital, one of two such 1,000-plus bed facilities planned to be operational sometime in the first week of February.

Meanwhile, public health experts scramble to figure out basic—and essential—facts about this never-before-seen virus, like whether or not someone who is infected but not yet showing symptoms can transmit the disease to others.

Jan. 30: What comes next?

As the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirms the first known person-to-person transmission of the virus in the country, and confirmed cases continue to rise rapidly, scientists all around the world are racing to develop treatments and a vaccine.

 

Labels:

Popular posts from this blog

New story in Health from Time: Here’s How Quickly Coronavirus Is Spreading in Your State

The novel coronavirus pandemic is a global crisis, a national emergency and a local nightmare. But while a great deal of the focus in the U.S. has been on the federal government’s response, widely criticized as slow and halting , the picture on the ground remains very different in different parts of the country. A TIME analysis of the per capita spread of the epidemic in all 50 states and Washington, D.C. found considerable range in the rate of contagion, and, in some parts of the country, a significant disparity compared to the national figure. The U.S., unlike nations such as South Korea and now Italy , has yet to show signs of bringing the runaway spread of the virus under control. However, while no single state is yet showing strong signs of bending the curve , some are faring much worse than others. The following graphic plots the rise in the total confirmed cases of COVID-19 per 100,000 residents in each state, plotted by the day that each state reported its first case.
Read more

New story in Health from Time: We Need to Take Care of the Growing Number of Long-term COVID-19 Patients

On July 7, 2020, the Boston Red Sox pitcher Eduardo Rodriguez tested positive for the new coronavirus. He was scheduled to start Opening Day for the Sox, but the virus had other plans— damaging Rodriguez’s heart and causing a condition called myocarditis (inflammation of the heart muscle). Now the previously fit 27-year old ace left-hander must sit out the 2020 season to recover. Rodriguez is not alone in having heart damage from SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. In a new study done in Germany, researchers studied the hearts of 100 patients who had recently recovered from COVID-19. The findings were alarming: 78 patients had heart abnormalities, as shown by a special kind of imaging test that shows the heart’s structure (a cardiac MRI), and 60 had myocarditis. These patients were mostly young and previously healthy . Several had just returned from ski trips. While other studies have shown a lower rate of heart problems—for example, a study of 416 patients hosp
Read more

New story in Health from Time: U.S. Inmates ‘Mistakenly’ Received COVID-19 Stimulus Checks. Now, the IRS Wants That Money Back

(BOISE, Idaho) — Hundreds of thousands of dollars in coronavirus relief payments have been sent to people incarcerated across the United States, and now the IRS is asking state officials to help claw back the cash that the federal tax agency says was mistakenly sent. The legislation authorizing the payments during the pandemic doesn’t specifically exclude jail or prison inmates, and the IRS has refused to say exactly what legal authority it has to retrieve the money. On its website, it points to the unrelated Social Security Act, which bars incarcerated people from receiving some types of old-age and survivor insurance benefit payments. “I can’t give you the legal basis. All I can tell you is this is the language the Treasury and ourselves have been using,” IRS spokesman Eric Smith said. “It’s just the same list as in the Social Security Act.” Read more: ‘A Double Whammy.’ Those Who Most Need The $1,200 Stimulus Checks May Wait the Longest To Get Them Tax attorney Kell
Read more