According to a Chinese government White Paper published on June 7, 2020 titled “Fighting Covid-19 China in Action”, “China’s fight against the epidemic” began on December 27, 2019 and was then recognised as a “Public Health Emergency.” [1, 2, 3]

On December 27, 2019 Zhang Jixian, a doctor from Hubei Provincial Hospital of Integrated Chinese and Western Medicine, reported cases of pneumonia of unknown cause to the Wuhan Jianghan Center for Disease Prevention and Control, China’s heath authority.”  Investigations concluded “they were cases of a viral pneumonia”. According to South China Morning Post [5] the doctor told China’s health authorities that the disease was caused by a new coronavirus.

“By the final day of 2019, the number of confirmed cases had risen to 266, On the first day of 2020 it stood at 381.”…”As late as January 11, Wuhan’s health authorities were still claiming there were just 41 confirmed cases.” [5]

Some additional responses reported in the white paper by China:

  • From Jan 3 China began to regularly update the WHO
  • On Jan 4, the “head of China CDC [George Gao Fu] held a telephone conversation with the director of the US CDC [Robert Redfield]
  • On Jan 5: With now 59 cases of the viral pneumonia of unknown cause. “Laboratory tests ruled out respiratory pathogens as the cause, such as influenza, avian influenza, adenovirus, the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus, and the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome coronavirus.”
  • On Jan 5: “China sent a situation update to the WHO. The WHO released its first briefing on cases of pneumonia of unknown cause in Wuhan.”
  • Jan 7: Xi Jinping, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, presided over a meeting of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and issued instructions on the prevention and control of a possible epidemic of the pneumonia of unknown cause in Wuhan.
  • Jan 7 “China CDC succeeded in isolating the first novel coronavirus strain.”

The white paper chronologically reports China’s version of events until June 2020. – READ

The Washington Examiner reports: “Wuhan Central Hospital got its first coronavirus patient on December 16, 2019 according to an interview Dr. Ai Fen gave to the Wall Street Journal. China’s CDC Weekly would note that Chinese doctors began tracking “a cluster of pneumonia cases with an unknown cause” that “occurred in Wuhan” on Dec. 21.

Another coronavirus patient with similar symptoms arrived at the Wuhan Central Hospital on Dec. 27, and by the next day, the hospital had seven unexplained pneumonia-like cases, including four connected to the wet market. On Dec. 29, Ai warned the hospital’s leadership about the contagious virus, and the hospital warned China’s local CDC.

Ai received lab results on Dec. 30 that warned of a SARS-like coronavirus…” [4]