
Timeline: The early days of China's coronavirus outbreak and cover-up - dsr12
https://www.axios.com/timeline-the-early-days-of-chinas-coronavirus-outbreak-and-cover-up-ee65211a-afb6-4641-97b8-353718a5faab.html
======
ilamont
_Dec. 31: Wuhan health officials confirm 27 cases of illness and close a
market they think is related to the virus ' spread. China tells the World
Health Organization’s China office about the cases of an unknown illness.

Jan. 19: Beijing sends epidemiologists to Wuhan._

As soon as Taiwan learned of what was going on December 31, it took action,
starting screening of airline passengers from Wuhan _on the aircraft before
people deplaned._ This is while the Chinese government was ignorant of the
problem, local officials were covering up the outbreak, and World Health
Organization officials at China's behest continued to block Taiwan from
joining WHO ([https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/13/how-taiwan-
is-...](https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/mar/13/how-taiwan-is-
containing-coronavirus-despite-diplomatic-isolation-by-china)).

Even though Taiwan had direct flights to Wuhan and was the last stop of the
Diamond Princess cruise ship before it was quarantined in Japan, it had only a
few dozen cases by the end of February. The government and people of Taiwan
learned a lot from SARS ([https://www.vox.com/future-
perfect/2020/3/10/21171722/taiwan...](https://www.vox.com/future-
perfect/2020/3/10/21171722/taiwan-coronavirus-china-social-distancing-
quarantine)), and their response should be seen as a model for the rest of the
world.

