China has been working very hard to contain the Coronavirus. The United States greatly appreciates their efforts and transparency. It will all work out well. In particular, on behalf of the American People, I want to thank President Xi!
Donald Trump, President of the USA on 24 January 2020
On 31 December 2019, the WHO was informed about the first cases in Wuhan, China. During the January 2020 the disease spread further within China and also started to venture into neighbouring (and some further away) countries. During February new regional hotspots developed in South Korea, Italy and Iran.
The big majority of cases in February 2020 was recorded in China (96.669), followed by South Korea (3.139), Italy (1.126), Iran (593) and Japan (222). By the end of the month there are now cases in 57 countries/territories.
China was still recording the most deaths that month (2625), followed by Iran (43), Italy (29) and South Korea (17).
Read more on the chronology of the pandemic in our blog.
