Since December 2019, the international authorities have been keeping a close eye on the Coronavirus, which is responsible for a new respiratory disease that has emerged in China. So far, about 1,000 people have been killed, including the doctor who discovered and warned about its severity. How have events evolved since its appearance?
To answer this question, the French newspaper Lacroix reviewed, in ten dates, the most important stations that this epidemic has gone through so far:
December 30, 2019 ... the first symptoms of the epidemic
That was the beginning when the ophthalmologist at Wuhan Central Hospital Li Wenliang alerted eight of his colleagues with a letter stating that he had discovered a mysterious disease, and it was not clear at the time whether it was related to the re-emergence of SARS that had killed 349 people in China between 2002 and 2003. .
January 7, 2020 ... China discovers a new form of the Corona virus
Chinese authorities have linked the symptoms of mysterious pneumonia cases increasing in the Wuhan region with the discovery of a seventh type of coronavirus, so SARS, which is also a fatal respiratory disease, has been excluded, especially for adults over 60.
January 18, 2020 ... China confirms first case of coronavirus
In a quick first toll, 45 patients and two of them were reported dead, and patients living in Wuhan, Hubei Province, were visiting the main market in the city.
People have developed symptoms that mainly refer to the symptoms of acute respiratory infections such as fever, cough and cold, but more severely it can lead to death, especially among vulnerable patients and the elderly.
January 20, 2020 .. The virus has spread to other countries
Since this date, several countries in Asia - including Thailand, South Korea and Japan - have started to report cases of coronavirus infection in their territories, which are five cases in total, compared to 300 cases in China, and thus Asia has become on high alert, especially that among the patients Who did not go to Wuhan.
Based on the work of Chinese researchers, the World Health Organization has decided that coronavirus is transmitted between humans, and Chinese President Xi Jinping has instructed to work to stop the virus firmly.
January 23, 2020 ... Wuhan is under quarantine
China placed Wuhan, the epidemic center, with a population of 12 million, under quarantine, and residents were required to wear masks. On the same day, researchers from the Chinese Health Authority estimated that the incubation period of the virus was 14 days.
Nevertheless, the virus continued to spread in various parts of the world, with tourists returning from China, as a man was infected in the United States who did not go to Wuhan, but was in the region. Nevertheless, the World Health Organization (WHO) has maintained its position that "there is no public health emergency of international concern."
January 24, 2020 .. Three cases confirmed in France
Two patients appeared in Paris and one in Bordeaux, all returning from Wuhan, home to the epidemic, which increased anxiety in Paris, while the number of infected people in China reached 830, of whom 26 died, which strengthened the hypothesis that the Wuhan market was the source of the virus, and therefore remained more than Fifty million people are cut off from the world in the capital of Hubei Province and surrounding areas.
January 26, 2020 ... French repatriation from Wuhan
On the day following the Chinese New Year's Day which was not celebrated as usual, the French government offered to return the French citizens of Wuhan to the country, subject them to health isolation to avoid infection, and subjected six suspected cases to numerous tests.
January 31, 2020 ... crossed the threshold of ten thousand injured in China
As of the end of January, no patient had died outside China, but the epidemic had spread, with 125 patients counted in twenty countries around the world, including six confirmed cases in France, and thus the World Health Organization declared that the disease "constituted a health emergency General is of international concern. "
At this point, France and many world powers rushed to find a cure, and scientists reduced the incubation period from 14 days to just over five days on average.
February 2, 2020 ... first death outside of China
The death of a Chinese citizen of Wuhan in the Philippines constituted the first death from the virus outside China, and the announcement of this case increased the international reluctance of the Chinese economy. Even the central bank announced that it would pump 1.2 trillion yuan (156 billion euros) into the banking system.
On this date, France returned 65 of its citizens on a second plane, while in China the number of injuries reached 14 thousand, of whom 300 died, and Beijing complained of a lack of masks, so Pope Francesco decided to send 700 thousand masks, and also subjected the city of Wenzhou (9 million people Quarantine officially.
February 7, 2020 ... ophthalmologist Li Win Liang dies of the virus he discovered
Before he was placed under respiratory support after being infected with the virus on January 10, 2020, Li Wenliang had been reprimanded by the Chinese authorities who forced him to remain silent, after he was the first to issue a warning expressing concern about the size and risks of this virus. What hit more than 28 thousand people in China and 228 in different parts of the world.