Official schedule
December 8, 2019 – The earliest date on which China recognized the infection
December 31 – China first reports “pneumonia of unknown cause” to the World Health Organization.
January 1, 2020 – Wuhan Seafood Market closed for disinfection
January 7 – President Xi Jinping discusses coronavirus outbreak with Politburo
January 9 – China makes the coronavirus genome public
January 11 – China announces its first death
January 13 – The first case outside China is confirmed
January 20 – China’s National Health Commission confirms human-to-human transmission
January 23 – Wuhan is locked up
January 31 – WHO declares “outbreak of international concern” as China admits thousands of cases
February 23 – Italy reports a group of cases in the first major outbreak in the West
May 29 – China claims the virus did not come from wet markets but from Chinese bats before it spread to humans through an “animal intermediary”
July 31 – Chinese researcher acknowledges some coronavirus experiments conducted in laboratories with lower biosafety
December 16 – WHO announces it will travel to Wuhan to investigate the origins of the virus in January
January 5, 2021 – China refuses to enter the WHO investigation team
February 9 – WHO rejects laboratory leak – supports China’s claim that it was imported from frozen meat
March 28 – Former US National Security officials say information shows “there is a direct order from Beijing to destroy all virus samples” at a laboratory in Wuhan
New evidence
2012: Six miners are killed by a mysterious flu-like illness in Mojiang Cave in Yunnan.
They were found to be infected with Covid’s closest known relative, sharing 97% of his genes.
RATG13 samples were sent to the Wuhan Institute of Virology for testing.
September 2019 – Blood samples were taken for screening for lung cancer in Italy, which was later positive for coronavirus
October – Whistleblower Wei Jingsheng claims that China deliberately spread Covid at the World War Games in Wuhan in October, two months before the rest of the world found out about the virus
October – Xi Jinping’s authoritarian regime desperately tries to shut down informants such as Mr. Jingsheng. All social media links to a new SARS virus or “outbreak” have been censored
October-December – Increase in coronavirus-related influenza and pneumonia cases in northern Italy
November – Revealer Mr Jingsheng claims to have expressed concern about high-profile military games in the Trump administration, but has been ignored
November – An intelligence report handed over to agencies in Washington claims that three staff members of the Wuhan Institute of Virology sought hospital treatment in November 2019 after experiencing Covid-like symptoms.
November – Sewage samples taken in Florianopolis, Brazil, suggest virus
November 10 – Milanka has a skin biopsy, and a sample is obtained, which later shows signs of the virus
November 17 – Leaked documents show that a case was opened in China on that date
December – Doctors in China, including Li Wenliang, report a new type of respiratory infection. But Chinese police arrested him and eight of his colleagues for questioning – instead of publishing reports and warning the public
December 1 – Chinese researchers report infection on that date in a peer-reviewed study, but it was not recognized by Beijing
December 18 – Sewage samples taken in Milan and Turin suggest the virus is circulating in cities
December 26 – Analyzed samples suggest that a new type of SARS was circulating on December 26, but Wuhan was not closed until January 22
January 2020 – Sewage samples from Barcelona suggest that the virus was in the city
January 3 – Covid-19 infections begin to spread to other nations, including the United States, as the WHO identifies the outbreak as a public health emergency of international concern
May – Scientists at a government laboratory in California conclude that Covid-19 may have escaped from a facility in Wuhan
July – WHO chief Tedros Adanom Gebreyesus says China did not share vital raw data during its investigation in Wuhan. China has denied the allegations
June 2021: Leading virus expert in the United States Dr. Anthony Fauci has been warned that Covid may be created in a laboratory, public emails reveal.
August: The world’s first patient with Covid-19 may have been infected with a bat while working at a laboratory in Wuhan in Chinasaid WHO chief Dr. Peter Embarek
August: A humiliating report by Republicans in the United States claims that the coronavirus leaked from the Wuhan Institute of Virology shortly after the facility tried to improve air safety and waste treatment systems
The report also cites “sufficient evidence” that laboratory scientists are working to modify coronaviruses to infect humans, and such manipulation may be hidden.
October: A review of U.S. intelligence on the origins of the pandemic does not determine whether the virus came from animal-to-human transmission or a laboratory leak.
Chinese officials described the report as “political and false.”
January 2022: Leaked emails from Britain’s top scientist, Sir Jeremy Farrar, show that he acknowledged in February 2020 that this was a “likely explanation” that the virus could have been man-made. But he continued to call the theory a “conspiracy.”
February: Sir Farrar is summoned to be sworn in to the US Congress. Officials want him to explain why he moved away from the theory of laboratory leaks.