How did the coronavirus get started: Recalling the chronology
The rapid spread of the coronavirus has given rise to wild spread panic to most people in the world. People need answers to the question, "how did the coronavirus get started?" Just like Ebola and HIV, this virus has defied many solutions from teams of hard-working scientists. The streets of China have been on high alert, especially the city of Wuhan. In many countries of the world, the government and health bodies are taking preventive measures to avoid a repeat of the case in China.
Source: Twitter
More people are being affected by the coronavirus as the days roll by. Though the source of the virus has been identified, the cure seems to be out of reach for now. It is disheartening that what started in one city has gone to wreak havoc in many countries in the world. The bulk cases have been identified in China and a few other far-east countries. Many measures are being put in place to check further the spread of the virus.
How did coronavirus come into existence?
There have been many speculations regarding the origin of this virus. The most accepted source is a meat market located in Wuhan, China. At the market, one can find dead and living animals displayed for sale to the public. This includes both birds and fish. It is common knowledge that many of these animals and birds are carriers of viruses.
Consequently, humans became exposed to the disease which has already spread among those animals. This is what is known so far about the origin of the new virus. Since it is an open market, it was not very easy to keep environmental hygiene in check.
Many people have referred to the disease as "Wuhan pneumonia." This is to indicate the coronavirus origin of China city where the first case of the virus in a human was identified. However, the World Health Organization had dissuaded people from associating diseases with people or locations to avert stigmatization.
Coronavirus chronology
After much research by teams of scientists, the initial carrier of the virus has been spotted as a bat. Since bats were auctioned in the market, the virus must have circulated to other animals and birds. It is worthy to note that bats are carriers of different types of infections like rabies, HIV, Ebola, and others. So, how did the virus start spreading, and what is its current state? Check the details below:
31st of December, 2019
China notified the WHO of the numerous cases of an uncommon virus in the municipality of Wuhan. Many who were infected, appeared to be workers at the market. Then, the market was closed on the 1st of January, 2020. While health professionals were trying to identify the new virus, the number of infected people rose to 40.
Source: UGC
5th of January, 2020
At this point, the Chinese authorities reportedly neglected the case as a repeat of the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) virus, which also originated in China. The deadly virus was reported to have resulted in the death of over 770 individuals between 2002 to 2003. It was a period of a great disaster.
7th of January, 2029
The authorities made it public that they have found the new virus through WHO. It was said to be a member of the class of coronavirus.
11th of January, 2020
The first case of death was identified and announced in China. It was discovered that the affected person was a man in his early sixties who went to buy some items at the seafood market. He died of heart failure on the 9th of January, 2020.
13th of January, 2020
World Health Organisation (WHO) reported the first case of the virus outside of China. The infected person was a woman from Thailand who had returned from her Wuhan trip.
17th of January, 2020
The second case of the virus was reported in Wuhan. The US health authorities announced new measures to check passengers coming from Wuhan. Officials in France, Nepal, Australia, Singapore, Malaysia, South Korea, Vietnam, and Taiwan emulated the same measures.
20th of January, 2020
The third case of death was reported in China, with about 200 individuals affected already. Some of the cases were reported in Beijing, Shanghai, and Shenzhen. In line with this measure, many Asian countries put up standards to prevent the spread of the virus. This included the screening of passengers arriving from China.
22nd of January, 2020
The death toll in China went up to 17, and over 550 people were infected already. Many countries in Europe tightened up their screening standards at the airport. Then, air and rail departures were put under suspension.
Source: UGC
24th of January 2020
Sadly, the death toll in China keeps rising as it hit 26, and more than 830 were reported to have been infected. Thirteen cities in Hubei were placed under lockdown, and a total of 41 million people were affected.
25th of January 2020
As a part of measures to check the further stretch of the virus, five cities in Hubei province came under travel constraints. Hong Kong announced a virus crisis and consequently, the New Year celebration was cancelled, and connections to China blocked.
26th of January, 2020
The death toll in China climbed to 56 and there were confirmed 2,000 cases. Outside of China, some new cases were reported in South Korea, the United States, Taiwan, Thailand, and Japan.
31st of January, 2020
The number of confirmed cases went up to 9,809 in China. New cases were spotted in Spain, Russia, Sweden, and the United Kingdom.
1st of February, 2020
In China, the number of death leapt to 259, and 11,791 infected people were recorded. A few new cases were identified in Canada, Japan, Germany, Australia, Singapore, the United States, and Vietnam.
4th of February, 2020
China recorded over 20,438 infected individuals and 425 dead people on this day. One death case was identified and reported in Hong Kong, and the first infected person was reported in Belgium.
5th of February, 2020
Four hundred and ninety deaths and 24,324 infected individuals were reported in China.
10th of February, 2020
As of the 10th of February, China had 908 confirmed deaths and a total of 40,171 infections. Out of them, 97 new deaths were reported following the deadliest day of the outbreak. For the first time, President Xi Beijing visited public places since the outbreak of the virus. He was in a hospital in Beijing and encouraged the citizens in the fight against the deadly virus.
14th of February, 2020
Egypt reported the first case of the virus in the country, making it the first in Africa.
24th of February 2020
Afghanistan, Bahrain, Iraq, Oman, and Kuwait recorded the first cases of the virus.
25th of February 2020
The deputy health of Iran announced that he had been infected with the virus. Besides, ninety-five cases of infections and fifteen deaths were recorded in the country.
26th of February, 2020
At the count of this day, the whole number of deaths in the world stood at 2,800, and 80,000 infected casualties have been confirmed. Later the same day, several cases were confirmed in Norway, Greece, Romania, Brazil and Pakistan.
27th of February 2020
As the virus continues to spread more countries like Denmark, Estonia, and Northern Ireland all reported their first cases on this day. Even as the total number of infected individuals in the world surpassed 82,000, the Netherlands also recorded her first case of the coronavirus. So far, 2,800 deaths have been recorded in the world.
While in Italy, there is a high surge of the virus with about 650 individuals already infected and a total of 17 dead. Three deaths were recorded on this day. In the US, progress is being made as the government is contemplating to invoke the Defense Production Act. This will give the President the authority to broaden industrial production of crucial equipment for national security.
28th of February, 2020
Nigeria records her first case of coronavirus. This is causing panic in Africa's most populous nation and the continent at large.
With more cases reported each day, the government and many health agencies around the world keep researching to find the cure to the deadly virus.
As the virus continues to spread over many countries, people keep speculating on the question, "how did the coronavirus get started?" Theories are going around that the virus accidentally escaped from a lab in China. This has been proven to be false as a team of scientists researching on its genetic code has traced it to bats. These people wish to dismiss the coronavirus origin bats theory.
Source: Legit.ng