CCTV news April 12, in response to concerns from all walks of life about WHO and the Covid-19 epidemic, WHO previously released a timeline for action against Covid-19, and will continue to update:

Dec. 31, 2019

China reports a group of pneumonia cases in Wuhan, Hubei Province, with final confirmation of a novel coronavirus.

January 1, 2020

WHO forms an Incident Management Support Team at three levels of the organization (headquarters, regional headquarters and country level) and the organization enters a state of emergency against the epidemic.

January 4, 2020

WHO reports on social media a group of pneumonia cases in Wuhan, Hubei Province, with no deaths.

January 5, 2020

WHO releases the first issue of the organization's Disease Outbreak News on novel viruses. Disease Outbreak News is the organization's main technical publication for the scientific and public health communities and the global media. The issue contains a risk assessment and recommendations, and reports on the status of patients and public health responses to the cluster of pneumonia cases in Wuhan that China notified the organization of.

January 10, 2020

WHO publishes a comprehensive set of technical guidance online that provides advice to all countries on how to detect, test and manage potential cases based on what was known about the virus at the time.

Evidence at the time indicated "no human-to-human transmission or limited human-to-human transmission." Based on experience with SARS and MERS and known modes of respiratory virus transmission, WHO issued recommendations for infection prevention and control guidance to protect health workers, and recommended droplet and contact protection measures to be taken when treating patients and protective measures for health care workers to take when performing operations that can produce aerosols.

January 12, 2020

China shares gene sequence for New Coronary Pneumonia.

January 13, 2020

An official confirms a case of new coronary pneumonia in Thailand, the first documented case outside of China.

January 14, 2020

In a press release, Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove noted that limited person-to-person transmission of coronavirus may have occurred (in 41 confirmed cases), primarily through family members, and said there is a potential for a larger outbreak. Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove noted that given our experience with SARS, MERS, and other respiratory pathogens, it would not be surprising to see interpersonal transmission occur.

January 20-21, 2020

WHO experts from the WHO Representative Office in China and the Regional Office for the Western Pacific make a short field visit to Wuhan.

January 22, 2020

WHO mission to China issues a statement saying that there is evidence of human-to-human transmission in Wuhan, but that more investigation is needed to understand the full extent of transmission.

January 22-23, 2020

The WHO Director-General convenes an Outbreak Committee under the International Health Regulations (2005) to assess whether the outbreak constitutes a public health emergency of international concern. Independent members from around the world, unable to reach agreement based on the evidence available at the time, request a further meeting within 10 days when more information is received.

January 28, 2020.

A high-level WHO delegation led by the Director-General travels to Beijing to meet with Chinese leaders in order to learn more about China's response and to provide a variety of technical assistance.

While in Beijing, Tedros agreed with Chinese government leaders to send an international team of leading scientists to China to gain insight into the specific situation and overall response, and to exchange information and experiences.

January 30, 2020

The WHO Director-General reconvened the Outbreak Committee, earlier than the previously decided 10-day deadline and only two days before the first report of limited human-to-human transmission outside of China. This time the committee reached consensus and informed the Director-General that the outbreak constituted a "public health emergency of international concern (PHEIC)". The Director-General accepted the recommendation and declared the new coronavirus outbreak a "Public Health Emergency of International Concern". This is the sixth time that WHO has declared a PHEIC since the International Health Regulations came into force in 2005.

February 3, 2020

WHO releases the international community's Strategic Preparedness and Response Programme to help protect countries with weak health systems.

February 11-12, 2020

WHO convenes a Research and Innovation Forum on New Coronary Pneumonia, attended by more than 400 experts and funder representatives from around the world. CDC Director Gao Fu and CDC Chief Epidemiologist Wu Zunyou gave introductory presentations.

February 16-24, 2020

The WHO-China joint mission included experts from Canada, Germany, Japan, Nigeria, Korea, Russia, Singapore, and the United States (CDC, National Institutes of Health). The joint mission spent some time in Beijing and also traveled to Wuhan and two other cities. They spoke with health officials, scientists and medical personnel while maintaining social distance.

March 11, 2020.

WHO assesses that New Coronary Pneumonia can be considered a pandemic.

March 13, 2020

Covid-19 Solidarity Response Fund is established to receive donations from individuals, companies and institutions.

March 18, 2020

WHO and its partners launch the Solidarity Trial, an international clinical trial designed to find the most effective treatment for New Coronary Pneumonia by producing reliable data from around the world.

(Original title: "Chronicle of the WHO for action against New Coronavirus")