On December 31, 2019, the World Health Organization (WHO) is alerted to a cluster of pneumonia cases “of unknown cause” in the central Chinese city of Wuhan.<\/p>\n
A week later, a new coronavirus is identified. China confirms on January 11 its first death in Wuhan from an illness which will be named Covid-19.<\/p>\n
Wuhan cut off<\/strong><\/p>\n On January 23, Wuhan is placed under quarantine and cut off from the world. Countries start to repatriate their citizens from China.<\/p>\n On February 15, France reports the first death confirmed outside Asia, a Chinese tourist.<\/p>\n ‘Pandemic’<\/strong><\/p>\n By March 6, more than 100,000 cases have been recorded around the world.<\/p>\n Northern Italy is locked down, quickly followed by the rest of the country.<\/p>\n On March 11, the WHO says Covid-19 is a pandemic.<\/p>\n Global stock markets crash.<\/p>\n Governments and central banks roll out massive economic support measures.<\/p>\n Europe in lockdown<\/strong><\/p>\n Spain (March 14) and France (March 17) order their populations to stay at home. Germany and Britain say people should avoid all social contact. The 27-nation European Union closes its external borders.<\/p>\n Olympics postponed<\/strong><\/p>\n On March 24, the Tokyo summer Olympics scheduled for July 2020 are put off to the next year.<\/p>\n The following day, the United Nations warns that the pandemic is “threatening the whole of humanity”.<\/p>\n Half of world confined<\/strong><\/p>\n Lockdown measures are enforced all around the world.<\/p>\n On April 2, more than 3.9 billion people — half of the world’s population — are forced or called on to confine themselves, according to an AFP count. The same day the threshold of one million cases is crossed.<\/p>\n British Prime Minister Boris Johnson is infected and ends up in intensive care.<\/p>\n Economy on its knees<\/strong><\/p>\n On April 29, the battered US aircraft manufacturer Boeing slashes 16,000 jobs.<\/p>\n Many other airlines and car manufacturers follow.<\/p>\n Hydroxychloroquine row<\/strong><\/p>\n Backed by US President Donald Trump as a potential treatment for Covid-19, malaria drug hydroxychloroquine is judged to have no benefit at all, according to British scientists on June 5.<\/p>\n Surge in Latin America<\/strong><\/p>\n By June 7, the global death toll reaches more than 400,000.<\/p>\n The surge of cases and deaths in Latin America causes concern.<\/p>\n Brazil becomes the country with the second biggest death toll after the US. Its president Jair Bolsonaro calls it a “little flu”, before himself becoming infected. Fellow Covid-19 sceptic Donald Trump will also get it.<\/p>\n Masks and anti-masks<\/strong><\/p>\n With cases on the increase, several European countries make mask wearing compulsory on public transport, in schools and shops and on the street.<\/p>\n Anti-mask demonstrations are organised in London, Paris and Rome, with protesters attempting to storm the Reichstag building in Berlin on August 30.<\/p>\n More waves, new variants<\/strong><\/p>\n The grim milestone of a million deaths worldwide is passed on September 28. In October, infections start to spiral in Europe, where many countries order new lockdowns and curfews.<\/p>\n The pandemic also picks up pace in the US, where its handling is a key issue in the presidential campaign.<\/p>\n A new US deaths record is reached on January 8, 2021, with just short of 4,000 fatalities in 24 hours.<\/p>\n The emergence in England of a more contagious variant — first detected in the country in September — forces British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on January 4 to announce a new lockdown for England and Scotland.<\/p>\n The variant is detected in several other countries and the rest of Europe tightens restrictions.<\/p>\n Other highly-contagious strains are also detected in South Africa and Brazil.<\/p>\n On January 7, the WHO calls the surging cases and new variants “alarming… and a tipping-point in the course of the pandemic.”<\/p>\n Vaccines kick in<\/strong><\/p>\n On November 9, US biotech giant Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech say they have a highly successful vaccine, as the number of official cases passes 50 million.<\/p>\n A week later, a similar announcement comes from US firm Moderna, with an AstraZeneca-Oxford University vaccine following fast behind.<\/p>\n Britain is the first Western nation to start vaccinating, with rollout in the rest of Europe uneven, causing widespread frustration.<\/p>\n In January, India also approves a vaccine from a domestic drugmaker Bharat Biotech.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, China’s Sinovac and Sinopharm vaccines and Russia’s Sputnik V jab have been rolled out in both countries and beyond for months, although none has yet to be fully approved by either Beijing or Moscow’s health authorities.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" From the first cases in central China to vaccinations being rolled out a year later,<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1743,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1741","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health"],"yoast_head":"\n![\"Twelve-key-Covid-milestones-rapid-news-rapidnews-dailyrapidnews-corona\"](\"https:\/\/dailyrapidnews.com\/eng\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/Twelve-key-Covid-milestones-rapid-news-rapidnews-dailyrapidnews-corona.jpeg\")
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