China hid crucial information about the coronavirus early on. Here's what was really happening while Chinese authorities stayed silent.

Aria BendixJun 4, 2020, 01:25 IST

A Chinese police officer in front of the portrait of Nationalist founder Sun Yat-sen at Tiananmen Square in Beijing, China, on April 28, 2020.Lintao Zhang/Getty Images

China delayed the release of critical information about its coronavirus outbreak, a new AP investigation revealed.
Chinese authorities took several days to alert the World Health Organization about an initial cluster of cases and waited more than a week before releasing the virus' genome to the public.
That likely stalled the development of vaccines, drugs, and diagnostic tests.

When China reported the emergency of a new coronavirus to the World Health Organization on January 3, it at first seemed to be rectifying mistakes made during the SARS outbreak in 2003.

Back then, it took Chinese officials three months to notify the WHO about a "strange contagious disease" that by that point already killed 100 people. This time, Chinese officials claimed to have quickly identified the virus, sequenced its genome, and shared that information with the world.

"The Chinese government is to be congratulated for the extraordinary measures it has taken to contain the outbreak," Tedros Ghebreyesus, the WHO Director-General, said at a press conference on January 30. "In many ways, China is actually setting a new standard for outbreak response."

But a new investigation from the Associated Press revealed that China delayed the release of critical information, including the discovery of the initial outbreak and the country's first death, for several days. China also took more than a week to release virus' genome to the public. Those actions likely stalled the development of vaccines, drugs, and diagnostic tests.

A January recording obtained by the AP shows that Michael Ryan, executive director the WHO's Health Emergencies Program, compared China's response to its handling of SARS.

"This is exactly the same scenario, endlessly trying to get updates from China about what was going on," Ryan said to colleagues, according to the AP. "WHO barely got out of that one with its neck intact given the issues that arose around transparency in southern China."

Here's what we know about the actual timeline of the outbreak's beginning, and how that compares to China's account.

Authorities in Wuhan reported more than 40 cases of an unknown, pneumonia-like illness to the World Health Organization on January 3.

A woman wearing a protective mask walks across the Yangtze River Bridge in Wuhan, China, on January 27, 2020. Getty Images

But Wuhan health officials had sent an emergency notice to hospitals four days earlier, on December 30.

Chinese ophthalmologist Li Wenliang also warned fellow doctors about a possible disease outbreak resembling SARS on December 30.

Dr. Li Wenliang. AP Photo

The WHO first learned about the virus through an open-source platform on December 31, the AP reported.

WHO Director General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus during a news briefing on COVID-19 from WHO headquarters in Geneva on April 6, 2020. AFP via Getty Images

Research suggests the first coronavirus patient may have been exposed on December 1, more than a month before Chinese authorities publicly confirmed a case.

A suspected coronavirus patient fills out a form at a community health station before being transferred to a hospital in Wuhan on January 27, 2020. Feature China/Barcroft Media/Getty Images

The virus was likely spreading in the Wuhan community by early January.

A crowd in Wuhan. Getty

Chinese authorities announced that the illness in question was a new coronavirus on January 9.

It took until January 12 for Chinese labs to publish the coronavirus' genome. But it had been sequenced more than a week before that.

A laboratory technician prepares COVID-19 patient samples for semi-automatic testing at Northwell Health Labs in Lake Success, New York, on March 11, 2020. AP Photo/John Minchillo

The Wuhan Institute of Virology, part of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, had decoded the full sequence by January 2.

The Chinese Academy of Sciences. http://english.ihb.cas.cn/au/

Another Chinese lab had sequenced most of the genome by December 27, nearly two weeks before the sequence was formally published.

A laboratory physician at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention prepares to perform nucleic acid testing on a novel coronavirus specimen in Chongqing, China, on May 3, 2020. Costfoto/Barcroft Media via Getty Images

Chinese officials only agreed to share the genome with the WHO after a Chinese laboratory uploaded the sequence to a virology website.

An illustration of the SARS-CoV-2, which causes the disease COVID-19. CDC

Wuhan health authorities linked the first cluster of cases to the Huanan Wholesale Seafood Market, but evidence now shows that wasn't the outbreak's true origin point.

The Huanan Wholesale Seafood Market on January 12, 2020. NOEL CELIS/AFP via Getty Images

Researchers found evidence in January that the market wasn't the place where the virus first jumped to people. But Chinese officials didn't acknowledge that until May.

A market in Wuhan. Stringer/Getty Images

It took until January 20 for China's health ministry to warn the world that the virus could spread person-to-person. But scientists there knew that was the case weeks earlier.

STR/AFP via Getty Images

It took until January 20 for China's health ministry to warn the world that the virus could spread person-to-person. But scientists there knew that was the case weeks earlier.

But virologist Zhang Yongzhen warned China's National Health Commission that the virus "should be contagious through respiratory passages" as early as January 5.

Nurses at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle demonstrate how they wear medical face shields. Ted S. Warren/AP

Research shows that human-to-human transmission likely occurred as early as mid-December.

A street in Wuhan. toehk at http://www.flickr.com/photos/toehk/2831901873/

Wuhan reported its first casualty on January 11, two days after the patient's death.

A doctor examines a patient in Jinyintan Hospital in Wuhan on February 13, 2020. Associated Press

China now says its outbreak is contained. The nation has reported around 84,000 cases and less than 5,000 deaths since December.

Security personnel wear face masks walk in front of a field hospital in Wuhan on April 9, 2020. Noel Celis/AFP/Getty Images

But epidemiologists and US officials suspect that China's actual case total is much higher.

Fan Zhongjie, a respiratory doctor in charge of about 30 critical COVID-19 patients in a Wuhan, Chin hospital, writes encouraging words for a patient on February 25, 2020. Feature China/Barcroft Media via Getty Images

I spent a week wearing a face shield instead of a mask, and I'm never going back

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China hid crucial information about the coronavirus early on. Here's what was really happening while Chinese authorities stayed silent.

Authorities in Wuhan reported more than 40 cases of an unknown, pneumonia-like illness to the World Health Organization on January 3.

But Wuhan health officials had sent an emergency notice to hospitals four days earlier, on December 30.

Chinese ophthalmologist Li Wenliang also warned fellow doctors about a possible disease outbreak resembling SARS on December 30.

The WHO first learned about the virus through an open-source platform on December 31, the AP reported.

Research suggests the first coronavirus patient may have been exposed on December 1, more than a month before Chinese authorities publicly confirmed a case.

The virus was likely spreading in the Wuhan community by early January.

Chinese authorities announced that the illness in question was a new coronavirus on January 9.

It took until January 12 for Chinese labs to publish the coronavirus' genome. But it had been sequenced more than a week before that.

The Wuhan Institute of Virology, part of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, had decoded the full sequence by January 2.

Another Chinese lab had sequenced most of the genome by December 27, nearly two weeks before the sequence was formally published.

Chinese officials only agreed to share the genome with the WHO after a Chinese laboratory uploaded the sequence to a virology website.

Wuhan health authorities linked the first cluster of cases to the Huanan Wholesale Seafood Market, but evidence now shows that wasn't the outbreak's true origin point.

Researchers found evidence in January that the market wasn't the place where the virus first jumped to people. But Chinese officials didn't acknowledge that until May.

It took until January 20 for China's health ministry to warn the world that the virus could spread person-to-person. But scientists there knew that was the case weeks earlier.

But virologist Zhang Yongzhen warned China's National Health Commission that the virus "should be contagious through respiratory passages" as early as January 5.

Research shows that human-to-human transmission likely occurred as early as mid-December.

Wuhan reported its first casualty on January 11, two days after the patient's death.

China now says its outbreak is contained. The nation has reported around 84,000 cases and less than 5,000 deaths since December.

But epidemiologists and US officials suspect that China's actual case total is much higher.