How The New Coronavirus Developed

How the new coronavirus developed

Paris, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 23rd Jan, 2020 ) :A new coronavirus, a mysterious SARS-like disease, has spread around Asian countries since first emerging.

A timeline: - Alarm raised - The World Health Organization (WHO) is alerted on December 31, 2019, of a string of pneumonia-like cases.

Patients are quarantined and work begins on identifying the origin of the pneumonia.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) identifies a seafood market suspected to be at the centre of the outbreak. It is closed on January 1, 2020.

- New coronavirus - On January 9, the WHO says that the outbreak was caused by a previously unknown type of coronavirus, which is a broad family ranging from the common cold to more serious illnesses like SARS.

- First death - A first person has died of the virus on January 11. They revise downwards the number of sick people to 41.

On January 13, for the first time with a case emerging in Thailand, according to the WHO.

On January 15 China's health commission says no human-to-human transmission of the virus has been confirmed so far, but the possibility "cannot be excluded".

The next day a first case of the virus is confirmed in Japan.

- US controls - On January 17, a second person, a 69-year-old man, dies, according to the authorities.

The same day, the CDC announces that it will begin screening passengers at three airports: San Francisco, New York's JFK and Los Angeles.

- Human to human transmission confirmed - On January 20, a third death and more than 100 new cases are announced, sparking concerns ahead of the annual Lunar New Year holiday which begins January 25 and sees hundreds of millions of people travel nationwide.

More than 200 cases have been recorded. The virus is also detected in South Korea.

On January 22 European airports from London to Moscow step up checks on flights.

WHO chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus says he is postponing a decision on whether or not to declare a global health emergency.

"I have decided to ask the emergency committee to meet again tomorrow to continue their discussion," he said, referring to a group of international experts who met for several hours at the WHO in Geneva on Wednesday.