Take a look at how we got here:
- December 8: First patient develops symptoms of coronavirus in Wuhan.
- December 31: Earliest cases of virus reported to World Health Organization (WHO).
- January 1: Seafood and wildlife market in Wuhan, where the outbreak is believed to have originated, is closed for disinfection.
- January 7: Chinese authorities confirm they have identified the virus as a novel coronavirus.
- January 9: First person dies of the virus, though his death wasn't announced until January 11.
- January 13: Thailand reports its first case -- a Chinese national who had arrived from Wuhan.
- January 16: Japan confirms its first case.
- January 21: The United States confirms its first case.
- January 23: Wuhan and several other cities are placed on lockdown, and Lunar New Year celebrations are canceled across China. WHO says virus is not yet a public health emergency of international concern.
- January 28: Death toll tops 100. The number of confirmed cases in mainland China overtakes the deadly 2003 severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) outbreak.
- January 30: WHO declares a public health emergency of international concern.
- February 2: A Chinese man dies in the Philippines -- the first coronavirus death outside China.
- February 4: The Diamond Princess cruise ship is docked under quarantine in Japan's Yokohama Bay with more than 3,700 people on board.
- February 6: Death toll tops 500 globally.
- February 7: Chinese whistleblower doctor Li Wenliang, who was targeted by Wuhan police, dies of the coronavirus. Chinese social media is flooded with grief, anger, and calls for freedom of speech.
- February 8: The US Embassy in Beijing confirms that a US national died in Wuhan on February 6, marking the first confirmed death of a non-Chinese national.
- February 11: Death toll tops 1,000 globally. The WHO names the coronavirus Covid-19.
- February 15: The first coronavirus death in Europe is confirmed.
- February 17: American passengers on the Diamond Princess are evacuated out of Japan.
- February 20: Death toll tops 2,000 globally.
- February 23: Cases in South Korea surge past 600 after several hundred new infections were reported in 48 hours, with more than half the cases linked to a branch of a religious group. Italy also sees a spike -- cases rise from three to 152 over the same weekend.