November 17, 2019: Date China now says it has traced the first coronavirus infection to, in Hubei province. Data now suggests that there were up to five new cases each day for the next few days. If U.S. intelligence was aware of such an outbreak, it suggests an excellent source or deep infiltration of Chinese government communications
‘Late November.’ ABC News reports that National Center for Medical Intelligence (NCMI) produced a report detailing concerns about a contagion in the area around Wuhan. The NCMI denies such a ‘product/assessment’ existed ‘in November of 2019’
November 28: Thanksgiving. ABC News says the intelligence that there is a mystery illness in and around Wuhan is in circulation among U.S. agencies by the holiday
December 1: The first case which has now been concluded to have happened without direct exposure to the Wuhan wet market is recorded
‘December’: ABC News reports that warnings of contagion around Wuhan are circulating extensively in U.S. intelligence circles
December 17: First double-digit rise in cases in Wuhan and region
December 27: Zhang Jixian, a doctor at Hubei Provincial Hospital of Integrated Chinese and Western Medicine, tells China’s CDC equivalent that he believes the mystery illnesses are caused by a new – novel – coronavirus
December 31: China reports the existence of cases of pneumonia with an unknown cause in Wuhan to the World Health Organization, saying they started on December 12. Confirmed cases stand at 266
January 1: Chinese authorities close the Wuhan wet market, in the belief that wild animals sold for meat may have been the source of the virus, Confirmed cases are 281
January 3: Alex Azar, HHS secretary, and other health officials are first warned about contagion in China. President’s daily briefing is reported by CNN to include a warning about the outbreak in Wuhan for the first time; the Washington Post however suggests it was some days after this
January 5: SARS and MERS are not the source of the pneumonia infections, China says
January 7: Novel coronavirus is reported to have been isolated by Chinese authorities
January 9: First reported death from the virus, a 61-year-old man said to have been exposed at the wet market
January 11: WHO are told by China’s national health commission – its equivalent of the CDC – that the outbreak is associated with the Wuhan wet market
January 16: Japanese authorities report the first infection outside China, a man who traveled to Wuhan
January 20: Dr Tony Fauci announces the NIH has started work on a virus
January 20: First case on U.S. soil is reported in Washington, a 35-year-old man who had been in Wuhan
January 22: Donald Trump addresses coronavirus for the first time when he is interviewed by CNBC’s Squawkbox at Davos. ‘Are there worries about a pandemic at this point?’ he is asked by anchor Joe Kernen, and answers: ‘No. Not at all. And we have it totally under control. It’s one person coming in from China, and we have it under control. It’s going to be just fine.’
January 29: Peter Navarro writes ‘memo for the president’ warning of up to 5 million dead Americans and a $6 trillion hit on the economy from the virus. On April 7 Trump says he ‘never read it’ then on April 8 dodges whether he was briefed on it saying he does not remember