Coronavirus: Latest news and resources

Read our timeline of coronavirus outbreak

Latest coverage

Updated 17 February 2020

• Opinion—Coronavirus: rolling out community testing for covid-19 in the NHS
  Doctors from a London NHS Trust describe their experience of rolling out community testing for covid-19
• Opinion—Coronavirus and the ethics of quarantine: why information matters
  Isolation and quarantine throw harsh light on the complex tensions in public health, says Julian Sheather
• News—Coronavirus: home testing pilot launched in London to cut hospital visits and ambulance use
  Community testing scheme part of a pilot
• Opinion—Protecting healthcare workers in China during the coronavirus outbreak
  Protecting staff on the frontline is a critical challenge for this outbreak
• News—Coronavirus: online GP bookings should be stopped because of safety risks, warns BMA
  General practices should be able to turn off their online booking systems in response to the covid-19 outbreak without fear of repercussions, says the BMA

What we currently understand about the virus

Recorded on 10 Feb 2020

Clinical review

• Facemasks for the prevention of infection in healthcare and community settings

Infographic

• Respiratory infection: who recommends what?

Coronavirus News

• Coronavirus: NHS staff get power to keep patients in isolation as UK declares “serious threat”
  The UK government declares coronavirus a serious and imminent threat to public health
• Coronavirus: global stocks of protective gear are depleted, with demand at “100 times” normal level, WHO warns
  Demand for personal protective equipment has skyrocketed
• Coronavirus: doctor who faced backlash from police after warning of outbreak dies
  Li Wenliang warned other doctors about novel coronavirus at the start of the outbreak
• Australian GPs raise concerns about shortage of face masks
  GPs in Australia have raised concerns over the safety of their teams because of the lack of protective equipment
• Coronavirus should be on “everybody’s agenda,” says vaccine expert
  Seth Berkley, chief executive officer of Gavi, the Vaccine Alliance, says that while some responses may be “over-reaching,” what is currently known about the virus suggests it should be treated seriously
• Hong Kong health staff strike to demand border closure as city records first death
  Healthcare workers start unprecedented industrial action to put pressure on the government to close the border
• WHO declares international emergency as death toll exceeds 200
  WHO has declared 2019-nCoV outbreak a public health emergency of international concern
• Wuhan: Britons to be evacuated as scientists estimate 44 000 cases of 2019-nCOV in the city
  Hundreds of British citizens will fly back from Wuhan
• Coronavirus: partial border closures into Hong Kong are not enough, say doctors
  Healthcare workers in Hong Kong are bracing for a potential explosion of cases locally
• Chinese premier rallies medics in coronavirus fight
  China’s premier visits Wuhan to inspect and direct the prevention and control efforts
• Coronavirus: mild but infectious cases may make it hard to control outbreak, report warns
  Unclear whether the outbreak can be contained within China
• Coronavirus: what do we know so far?
  We answer your questions about this evolving situation
• Coronavirus: UK screens direct flights from Wuhan after US case
  Health teams in the UK will meet each direct flight aircraft from Wuhan, China
• Coronavirus: cases surge as official admits human to human transmission
  More than 200 confirmed cases of infection with the novel coronavirus have emerged in China

Coronavirus Opinion

• Why do we wait until emergency vaccines are necessary before recognising we need them?
  We are too slow to see the emergence of infectious diseases as an evolutionary certainty
• We need new forms of governance to better manage our response to pandemics
  Once again we are playing catch up with coronavirus
• Coronavirus: containing the parallel epidemics of xenophobia and misinformation
  The global health community must counter misinformation
• Is reporting of the coronavirus producing viral panic?
  There are two different outbreaks: one outbreak of a coronavirus, and one of viral fake-news
• Coronavirus—knowledge is the antidote to fear
  The outbreak of a serious infectious disease is not just a biomedical event. It affects people and their communities
• Coronavirus: The psychological effects of quarantining a city
  During disease outbreaks, community anxiety rises. Mass quarantine is likely to raise that substantially

Editorial

• Response to the emerging novel coronavirus outbreak
  Worldwide political commitment to pandemic preparedness is essential

Feature

• Response to the emerging novel coronavirus outbreak
  Worldwide political commitment to pandemic preparedness is essential
• Coronavirus shows how UK must act quickly before being shut out of Europe’s health protection systems
  The threat posed by 2019-nCoV and the fragmentation of existing health protection systems caused by Brexit call for urgent assessment of cross Europe cooperation
• In Beijing, coronavirus 2019-nCoV has created a siege mentality
  Residents are hunkering down while following activities 1200 km away in Wuhan

Analysis

• BMJ Global Health: An updated roadmap for MERS-CoV research and product development

BMJ Best Practice

BMJ's clinical decision support tool

• Covid-19
• SARS
• Middle East respiratory syndrome

BMJ Learning

Interactive, peer reviewed learning modules from BMJ

• Infection control - including basic personal protective equipment
• Personal protective equipment and isolation for high consequence infectious diseases

Timeline of coronavirus outbreak

11 February - The number of confirmed cases in China hit 42 708 and the number of deaths surpassed 1000. Outside of China, 393 cases and one death were reported. In the UK, a GP practice in Brighton closed after two GPs were found to have the virus. WHO announced the virus would be known as COVID-19. Director general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said, "Having a name matters to prevent the use of other names that can be inaccurate or stigmatising."

10 February - UK government declared that novel coronavirus 2019-nCoV constitutes a serious and imminent threat to public health. Meanwhile, the MRC Centre for Global Infectious Disease Analysis at Imperial College London estimated that for all cases of the virus, the case fatality ratio is around 1%.

7 February - Li Wenliang - a doctor from Wuhan, China, who said he was reprimanded by police for warning other doctors about novel coronavirus at the start of the outbreak - died after being infected with 2019-nCoV.

6 February - Third novel coronavirus case confirmed in the UK. Chris Whitty, chief medical officer for England said, “The individual did not acquire this in the UK. The patient is being transferred to a specialist NHS centre, and we are using robust infection control measures to prevent any possible further spread of the virus. The NHS is well prepared to manage these cases and we are now working quickly to identify any contacts the patient has had.” WHO then warned that the global demand for personal protective equipment such as masks and respirators was 100 times the normal level, and costs had skyrocketed to around 20 times the usual price. It said worldwide stocks were “insufficient” to meet demand and called on manufacturers to only sell equipment to healthcare professionals.

5 February - Thousands of passengers on a cruise ship, stopped in Yokohama, Japan, are quarantined for two weeks after 10 people on board were found to be infected with the novel coronavirus. Meanwhile, GPs in some areas of Australia raised concerns over a lack of appropriate personal protective gear, including face masks, for themselves and their staff. The gear is needed as part of the coronavirus response. The Royal Australian College of General Practitioners said the recent bushfires had led to face mask shortages, but that the government would distribute its emergency medical stockpile.

4 February - First case of novel coronavirus confirmed in Belgium. The person was thought to be one of citizens evacuated from Wuhan, China

3 February - Total reported cases rose to 17 488, with 362 deaths. However, China reported that 475 people had recovered. The number of confirmed cases in Japan hit 20, while there were 19 cases in Thailand, 18 in Singapore, 15 in South Korea, 12 in Australia, 11 in the US, 10 each in Taiwan and Germany, eight in Malaysia, six each in France and Vietnam, four in Canada, two each in Britain, Italy, Philippines, India, and Russia, and one each in Spain, Cambodia, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Sweden. In the UK, the government announced £20m in research funding for the development of new vaccines for coronavirus and other infectious diseases.

2 February - The first death from novel coronavirus was reported outside of China, in man from Wuhan who was believed to have been infected before arriving in the Philippines. Meanwhile, thousands of hospital workers in Hong Kong voted to strike in order to pressure the government to fully close the borders with mainland China.

31 January - The latest figures suggest that there are nearly 10 000 confirmed cases and more than 200 deaths. The UK reported it's first two confirmed cases of the virus.

30 January - The World Health Organisation declared a Public Health Emergency of International Concern over the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) outbreak. It reported that the virus had spread to 18 countries, and that human to human transmission had occurred in four - Germany, Japan, Vietnam and the US. It said the declaration was "not because of what is happening in China, but because of what is happening in other countries. Our greatest concern is for the virus to spread to countries with weaker health systems that are ill prepared to deal with it.”

29 January - The UK government has announced plans to fly hundreds of British citizens back from Wuhan and quarantine them for two weeks. The move comes after British Airways suspended all flights to and from mainland China until at least 31 January. Other countries, including Australia, Japan, the US have also started to repatriate citizens.

28 January - 4520 confirmed cases and 106 deaths have been reported in China (including Macau). Outside China 15 countries have reported cases. These are Thailand (14 cases), Hong Kong (eight), the US (five), Taiwan (five), Australia (five), Singapore (four), Japan (four), South Korea (four), Malaysia (four), France (three), Canada (two), Vietnam (two), Nepal (one), Cambodia (one) and Germany (one). No deaths have been reported outside China.

26 January - The WHO said 2014 cases have been confirmed worldwide, of which 1985 were reported from China, including special regions Hong Kong (five), Macau (two) and Taipei (three). Twenty nine cases have been confirmed outside of China in ten countries: Japan (three), South Korea (two), Vietnam (two), Singapore (four), Australia (four), Malaysia (three), Thailand (five), Nepal (one), US (two), France (three). Of the 1975 confirmed cases in mainland China, 324 cases have been reported as severely ill.

25 January - Updated report from the MRC centre at Imperial College London estimated that up to 18 January, the R0 was 2.6 (uncertainty range: 1.5-3.5), meaning that, on average, each case infected 2.6 other people. It said control measures need to block well over 60% of transmission to be effective in controlling the outbreak. It added that in the absence of antiviral drugs or vaccines, “control relies upon the prompt detection and isolation of symptomatic cases.”

24 January - 830 cases and 26 deaths confirmed worldwide.

23 January - 14 people in the UK are tested for the virus, however all are found to be negative. Chinese authorities put Wuhan in lockdown and expanded travel restrictions to several nearby cities. The WHO also met to examine the situation but decided against announcing a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC). It also estimated that the preliminary R0 (reproduction number) estimate is 1.4 to 2.5, meaning that every person infected could infect between 1.4 and 2.5 people.

22 January - The UK began sending health teams to meet each direct flight aircraft from Wuhan, China, to check for symptoms of novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) and to provide information in English, Mandarin, and Cantonese to all passengers about symptoms and what to do if they become ill. However, China then announced it would be shutting down transportation from Wuhan.

21 January - The first US case was reported in a man who travelled from Wuhan to Washington State. Meanwhile, a man who returned from China to Australia with respiratory symptoms was tested, but was found not to have the virus.

20 January - Researchers at the MRC Centre for Global Infectious Disease Analysis at Imperial College London estimated that a total of 4000 people in Wuhan City had an onset of symptoms caused by the novel disease (uncertainty range: 1,000 – 9,700) by 18th January 2020.

20 January - Chinese authorities confirmed evidence of human to human transmission, after the virus spread to 14 health workers in China. South Korea announced its first confirmed case, in a 35 year old Chinese woman who flew from Wuhan to Incheon international airport.

16 January - Thailand announced that a 74 year old Chinese woman had been quarantined on arrival in the country and had tested positive.

15 January - Japan announced that a man in his 30s who had been to Wuhan tested positive for the virus on his return to Japan. He recovered and was discharged from hospital five days later.

13 January - Thailand reported a 61 year old woman had tested positive for the virus, despite not having visited the seafood market where the outbreak is thought to have originated.

11/12 January 2020 - China told The WHO the outbreak was associated with exposures in one seafood market in Wuhan City. Chinese authorities then identified the mystery disease as a new type of coronavirus, and shared its genetic sequence for countries to use in developing specific diagnostic kits.

31 December 2019 - The first reports of the coronavirus - known then as pneumonia with unknown cause - came from Wuhan City, Hubei Province of China.