The First Time COVID-19 Cases Have Passed Outside China In History January 13, 2020

JAKARTA - On January 13, 2020, the Thai Ministry of Public Health confirmed the first case of COVID-19. This is said to be the first case of COVID-19 outside China.

According to the WHO report, the first case was a 61-year-old Chinese woman living in Wuhan City, Hubei Province, China. On January 5, 2020, he developed a fever and chills along with a sore throat and headache. On January 8, 2020, he flew directly to Thailand from Wuhan City with five family members in a tour group of 16 people.

His fever was detected when he passed a temperature checker at Suvarnabhumi Airport, Thailand. The woman was hospitalized on the same day. After a temperature check and initial assessment, he was transferred to another hospital for further investigation and treatment.

The woman reported a history of places she had visited before. He once went to a local market in Wuhan before he finally felt sick on January 5, 2020. The sample tested positive for the corona virus on January 12, 2020.

A few days later, on January 15, 2020, Japan reported the country's first COVID-19 case. A man who recently visited Wuhan, China, was reported to be the first case of COVID-19 in Japan. He said that he did not visit the market which is believed to be the beginning of the spread of COVID-19.

Citing the Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy (CIDRAP) of the University of Minesota, the man's symptoms started on January 3, namely fever and returned to Japan on January 6, 2020. He then underwent medical treatment the same day. He was hospitalized on January 10, 2020 and discharged on January 14, 2020 after his symptoms improved. But the results of the tests he got earlier showed that he was positive for COVID-19.

Although he did not visit the market in Wuhan which is claimed to have spread the COVID-19 virus, however, he may have had close contact with COVID-19 sufferers during his stay in Wuhan. Both Thailand and Japan were the top three destinations for Wuhan air travel, according to a study at the time. Therefore, the travel pattern can be used to prepare public health readiness.

In early 2020, there was still much debate as to whether COVID-19 was transmitted from animals to humans or could be transmitted between humans. At that time, there was still no evidence of human-to-human transmission and no reports of COVID-19 in health workers.

The WHO was also in the early stages of understanding COVID-19, where it came from and how it affected people. The WHO says that there are many unknowns and the situation could continue to evolve. However, WHO is aware of the possibility of COVID-19 spreading to other countries.

Over time, it is increasingly proven that COVID-19 is transmitted between humans. Not only contagious, even deadly. Maintain social distance and the use of masks has begun. Many schools and offices were closed and campaigns to stay at home continued.

In addition, the virus that causes COVID-19 also changes over time. Some changes affect the nature of the virus, such as how easily it spreads, its severity, whether it affects the performance of vaccines, therapeutic drugs, diagnostic tools, or other public health and social measures.

According to the WHO report, researchers have been monitoring and assessing the evolution of SARS-CoV-2 since January 2020. During late 2020, the emergence of a variant that increases global public health risks. There is an Alpha variant of COVID-19 which first appeared in September 2020 in the UK.

Then there is the Beta variant which first appeared in South Africa in October 2020 and was only reported in December 2020. The Gamma variant appeared in Brazil for the first time around November-December 2020. The Delta variant first appeared in India around October 2020 and the latest Omicron which appeared the first time around November 2021.

*Read other information about TODAY's HISTORY or read other interesting articles from Putri Ainur Islam.