A timeline of the key events related to COVID-19
Photo for representation: iStock
March 11, 2024 marks four years since the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the outbreak of a novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) a pandemic, better known as COVID-19. Since then, millions of infections and fatalities have occurred around the world.
Let’s take an overview of the pandemic:
December 31, 2019: In the city of Wuhan, located in China’s Hubei Province, a group of patients started exhibiting symptoms of an unusual pneumonia-like illness that proved resistant to conventional treatments. Chinese authorities reported the cases to WHO.
January 30, 2020: The WHO declared the COVID-19 outbreak a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC), the global health body’s highest level of alarm.
March 2, 2020: The Government of India confirmed two fresh cases of COVID-19 — one in the capital city of Delhi and another in Telangana.
March 11, 2020: With over 118,000 cases reported across 114 countries and a death toll of 4,291 worldwide, the WHO officially characterised COVID-19 as a pandemic.
March 13, 2020: The-then United States President Donald Trump declared the outbreak a national emergency.
March 24, 2020: India declared nationwide lockdown for 21 days as a preventive measure against the COVID-19 pandemic.
April 4, 2020: WHO announced that the global count of confirmed COVID-19 cases had surpassed 1 million, marking a tenfold surge in less than a month.
July 16, 2020: India records 1 million COVID-19 cases
September 28, 2020: COVID-19 deaths surpass 1 million worldwide.
December 11, 2020: The first COVID-19 vaccines are administered in the United Kingdom.
January 16, 2021: India’s national COVID-19 vaccination programme began.
January 22, 2021: COVAX, the global initiative aimed at ensuring swift and fair access to COVID-19 vaccines worldwide, declared the formalisation of an advance purchase agreement for as many as 40 million doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.
Additionally, COVAX affirmed its intention to utilise its option, as outlined in an existing agreement with the Serum Institute of India (SII), to obtain the initial 100 million doses of the AstraZeneca / Oxford University-developed vaccine produced by SII.
March 12, 2021: WHO listed the COVID-19 vaccine Ad26.COV2.S, developed by Janssen (Johnson & Johnson), for emergency use in all countries and for COVAX roll-out.
February 24, 2021: The global distribution of COVAX commenced with Ghana becoming the initial country, outside of India, to receive COVID-19 vaccine doses dispatched through COVAX.
April 30, 2021: WHO listed the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use, allowing countries to expedite their own regulatory approvals and enabling the vaccine to be rolled out through COVAX.
May 11, 2021: WHO labels B.1.617 strain of COVID-19 (Delta) as a variant of concern.
November 9, 2021: The WHO approved the first vaccine for global use — Covaxin by Bharat Biotech.
November 26, 2021: WHO designated the variant B.1.1.529 a variant of concern, named Omicron.
December 17, 2021: WHO issued its ninth emergency use listing for a COVID-19 vaccine, for CovovaxTM, produced by SII under licence from Novavax.
February 11, 2022: WHO prequalified its first monoclonal antibody, tocilizumab, to treat COVID-19.
April 10, 2023: US President Biden ended the national emergency related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
May 5, 2023: WHO formally declared the conclusion of the global health emergency declared three years earlier in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. This marked the end of a profoundly challenging and distressing chapter in human history.
As of March 11, 2024, India has 1,158 active COVID-19 cases and 533,510 people have died over the last four years, according to Union ministry of health and family welfare. Almost 2,207 million doses of vaccines have been administered in the country till now.
Worldwide, 774.8 million COVID-19 cases have been reported, as of February 25, 2024, according to the WHO. Over 7 million people have died so far globally, as of March 11, 2024.
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