Today Marks A Year Since The First COVID-19 Death Was Announced In Wuhan China

Today Marks A Year Since The First COVID-19 Death Was Announced In Wuhan China.

The world came to know about the novel coronavirus for the first time when China reported to the World Health Organization (WHO) that a mysterious respiratory disease of unknown origin emerged in the city of Wuhan in Hubei province on Dec. 31, 2019. The first death from the disease in China was reported a year today, on Jan. 11 2020.

When COVID-19, which was initially seen as a regional epidemic affecting China and its surroundings, started to threaten global public health, the world started to follow developments related to the virus and measures to control and prevent its spread became a major concern for all countries.

The disease was first detected in people who visited a seafood market in Wuhan. The first patient was admitted to the hospital on Nov. 17, 2019, with the complaint of a respiratory disease of an unknown cause.

On Dec. 31, 2019, China reported a mysterious respiratory disease was detected in Wuhan to the World Health Organization (WHO). An unknown type of virus was the suspected culprit for the lung-inflaming disease. On Jan. 1, authorities closed the seafood market that the diseases first patients visited.

On Jan. 3, it was announced that the genetic structure of the virus that caused the disease was similar to the SARS (Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome) virus, which emerged in 2002-2003 in China and spread across the world.

The WHO on Jan. 7 announced that the disease is not caused by SARS but a new type of coronavirus. This novel coronavirus, which is a mutated betacoronavirus in bats, was named 2019-nCov. On Jan. 13, the first case of COVID-19 was reported outside China when a female patient was diagnosed with COVID-19 in Thailand. The first COVID-19 case in the US was detected roughly a week later on Jan. 21.

Transformation into a global emergency

As the virus spread to new countries, people with COVID-19 were brought under treatment in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, South Korea, Australia, Malaysia, Vietnam and Nepal. Meanwhile, all public transportation was halted and quarantine measures were put in place in Wuhan, the epicenter of the epidemic, on Jan. 23.

On Jan. 24, the first cases emerged in Europe. In France, the coronavirus was detected in two people who had returned from China, along with one of their relatives. The WHO declared a global emergency on Jan. 30 due to the outbreak, while the UK, Italy and Spain reported their first cases on Jan. 31. On Feb. 2, the first COVID-19 death outside China was reported in the Philippines.

Where are we now?

Coronavirus is continuing its spread across the world with almost 90 million confirmed cases in 190 countries and nearly two million deaths. The virus is surging in many regions and countries that had apparent success in suppressing initial outbreaks are also seeing infections rise again.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has warned that the virus will continue to spread rapidly in the coming months. WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said: “We’re in a race to prevent infections, bring cases down, protect health systems and save lives while rolling out highly effective and safe vaccines to high-risk populations.”

Several coronavirus vaccines have now been approved for use, either by individual countries, or blocs such the EU and WHO. But only a number of countries have started vaccinating their populations.

Supply and distribution of the vaccine is becoming an issue. Some countries have secured more than their populations actually need, while lower-income countries may have to rely on the global vaccine plan known as Covax, which is seeking to ensure an equitable distribution of vaccines.

What has been the impact on the Chinese and global economies?

China’s exports rose in both June and July, due in large part to foreign demand for products used to combat the pandemic. This, along with stronger industrial production and the government’s increased infrastructure spending has helped boost growth. However, analysts remain cautious given the impact of the pandemic on overseas markets, particularly the US.

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