News archive: Novel Coronavirus spreads across the world

Publish Date: 11-Feb-2020

In December 2019, China reported an outbreak of a new strain of coronavirus in Wuhan to the World Health Organization (WHO). Many of the infected had worked in a local seafood market. WHO named the new virus as “2019 Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV)”.

As the Chinese New Year drew near, masses travelled back to their home towns or flew overseas for vacations, causing rapid spread of the virus. Many new cases were reported from China’s Hubei province and overseas in the past few weeks. Wuhan announced a city-wide lockdown on 23 January. Public transport, such as airplanes, trains, subways, and ferries all halted services until further announcements.

WHO’s Emergency Committee designated the epidemic as a “Public Health Emergency of International Concern” on 30 January.