KEY MOMENTS IN THE FIRST 100 DAYS OF THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC

Dec. 10, 2019 Wei Guixian, a seafood merchant at the Huanan Seafood Market in Wuhan, starts to develop symptoms of a strange new pneumonia.

Dec. 18, 2019 Ai Fen, director of the emergency department at Wuhan Central Hospital, sees her first patient, a 65-year-old man, showing symptoms of a pneumonia she has not seen before. (1)

Dec. 27, 2019 Wuhan respiratory doctor Zhang Jixian sees “ground glass” opacities in imaging of the lungs of an elderly couple. Their son also is found to exhibit the same strange lung lesions. After seeing another patient with similar symptoms, Zhang reports the cases to hospital officials, who in turn report them to the Jianghan District CDC. (2)

Dec. 28, 2019 Wuhan Central Hospital identifies seven cases of the disease. (3)

Dec. 30, 2019 Wuhan Central Hospital ophthalmologist Li Wenliang writes in a private online chat group that seven people at his hospital appeared to be suffering from a SARSlike virus. Two days later, he is reprimanded by police for warning about the virus.

Dec. 31, 2019 Wuhan Municipal Health Commission says publicly it is investigating 27 cases of a “pneumonia of unknown origin.” The WHO China Country Office is also informed of the cases.

Jan. 1, 2020 Chinese authorities close the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market in Wuhan. A team from the China CDC begin collecting environmental swabs of different areas of the market.

Jan. 3, 2020 The WHO is informed by China that more than 40 cases of the pneumonia of unknown origin have been identified. (4)

Jan. 4, 2020 China’s National Health Commission tells laboratories not to share information about the new pneumonia with news media. (5)

Jan. 7, 2020 A novel coronavirus is discovered by Chinese public health officials as the cause of the disease spreading across Wuhan. (6)

Jan. 10, 2020 The WHO refers to the new disease as the “2019 Novel Coronavirus.” (7)

Jan. 11, 2020 The first-known death from the new virus is reported in Chinese state media. (8) Jan. 13, 2020 Thailand reports the first

lab-confirmed case of the virus outside of China. (9)

Jan. 21, 2020 The first case of the new coronavirus is reported in the U.S. (10)

Jan. 23, 2020 Wuhan locked down.

Jan. 25, 2020 Sunnybrook Hospital in Toronto confirms the first case of the new coronavirus in Canada, a man in his 50s who had recently returned from Wuhan.

The man’s wife also tests positive the next day.

Jan. 28, 2020 U.S. CDC advises people to avoid all nonessential travel to China.

Jan. 30, 2020 WHO Director-General Tedros Ghebreyesus declares the outbreak a “Public Health Emergency of International Concern.” (11)

Feb. 3, 2020 Chinese scientists report they have isolated the coronavirus causing the epidemic of acute respiratory syndrome in Wuhan. (12)

Feb. 7, 2020 An evacuation flight from Wuhan lands at CFB Trenton. Passengers must quarantine for 14 days.

Feb. 11, 2020 The WHO announces “COVID-19” as the official name for the disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus. The “CO” stands for “coronavirus, the “VI” stands for “virus” and “D” stands for “disease,” while “19” means “2019.” (13)

Feb. 29, 2020 The U.S. reports its first death from COVID-19, a man in Washington state.

March 8, 2020 A Vancouver man in his 80s becomes the first death in Canada related to COVID-19.

March 11, 2020 The WHO declares the spread of COVID-19 a pandemic after the disease is detected in more than 110 countries. (14) The NBA also announces that it is suspending the 2019-20 season after Utah Jazz centre Rudy Gobert tests positive.

March 13, 2020 U.S. President Donald Trump declares a national emergency due to COVID-19. Quebec declares a state of emergency.

March 16, 2020 Prime Minister Justin Trudeau tells Canadians abroad it is time to come home, while the federal government announces it will close the border to non-citizens in two days. (15)

March 17, 2020 B.C., Alberta and Ontario, declare states of emergency due to the pandemic. Ontario Premier Doug Ford orders a provincewide lockdown, which includes the closing of bars, restaurants, theatres, schools and daycare centres.

March 18, 2020 The U.S. and Canada announce the border between the two nations will be closed to all non-essential traffic