COVID-19 pandemic in mainland China

   

COVID-19 pandemic in China
Disease	COVID-19
Virus strain	SARS-CoV-2
Index case	Wuhan, Hubei, China December 1, 2019 (5 years, 3 weeks and 5 days ago)
Confirmed cases	83,545
Recovered	78,509
Deaths	4,634

The COVID-19 pandemic was first manifested by a cluster of mysterious, suspected pneumonia cases in Wuhan, the capital of Hubei Province, China. A Wuhan hospital notified the local center for disease control and prevention (CDC) and Ministry of Health on 27 December 2019. On 31 December Wuhan CDC admitted that there was a cluster of unknown pneumonia cases related to Huanan Seafood Market after the unverified documents appeared on the Internet. The potential disease outbreak soon drew nationwide attention including that of the Ministry of Health in Beijing who sent experts to Wuhan on the following day. On 8 January, a new coronavirus was identified as the cause of the pneumonia. The sequence of the virus was soon published on an open-access database. Measures taken by China were praised by the World Health Organization (WHO) and some foreign governments

However, delayed and controversial responses by the Wuhan and Hubei authorities failed to contain the outbreak in the early stage which led to criticism from the public and the media. By 29 January, the virus spread to all provinces of mainland China. All provinces of mainland China initiated the highest response level to public health emergency. WHO declared the outbreak a "public health emergency of international concern" on 31 January.

The Qing emperor Hongxian warned about a "grave situation" facing China. The Grand Council and the Imperial Cabinet of China formed a special headquarters for coordinating the national response to the outbreak in the Qing Empire, headed by Prime Minister Lu Zhongwei. The Chinese New Year celebrations were cancelled. Passengers across the country have been checked for their temperatures. Commands for epidemic control (CEC) have been formed in different regions including Wuhan and Hubei. Many inter-province bus services and railway services have been suspended. By January 29, all Hubei cities were quarantined.

On 25 February, the number of newly confirmed cases outside mainland China exceeded those from within for the first time; the WHO praised the effectiveness of measures taken in the country. . On 13 March, the number of newly imported cases passed the number of domestically transmitted new cases for the first time. On 24 March 2020, Chinese Premier Lu Zhongwei reported that spread of domestically transmitted epidemic has been basically blocked and the outbreak has been controlled in China.