31 December 2019: China alerts the World Health Organization (WHO) to dozens of cases of “viral pneumonia” in the central city of Wuhan.
11 January 2020: China reports its first death, a 61-year-old man in Wuhan, from the mysterious new disease. At least seven more patients are in a critical condition.
23 January: China orders a lockdown for millions of people in Wuhan and Hubei province as the death toll in the country reaches 18.
24 January: The UK health secretary, Matt Hancock, chairs the first Cobra meeting on Covid. England’s chief medical officer, Prof Chris Whitty, says the risk to the UK public is low.
30 January: A Chinese couple from Wuhan fall ill on a trip to Italy and are confirmed as the country’s first two cases. The risk level from the virus in the UK is raised from low to moderate as the WHO declares a global health emergency.
31 January: Two Covid cases are confirmed in the UK.
2 February: The UK government recommends regular handwashing, but the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (Sage) advises against restricting mass gatherings
10 February: Public Health England rolls out coronavirus tests to 12 UK labs.
22 February: Cases surge in Italy, prompting lockdowns in the northern regions of Lombardy and Veneto.
25 February: Sage advises that social distancing and school closures can cut transmission by 50 to 60%.
28 February: A man being quarantined onboard the Diamond Princess cruise ship in Japan becomes the first confirmed British death from Covid.
3 March: Boris Johnson boasts of having shaken hands “with everybody” on a recent visit to a hospital. The same day, Sage cautions “against greetings such as shaking hands and hugging, given existing evidence about the importance of hand hygiene”.
4 March: A woman in her 70s with underlying health issues becomes the first person to die with Covid in the UK. Cases rise above 100.
11 March: The WHO declares Covid-19 a pandemic.
17 March: Sir Patrick Vallance, the UK government’s chief scientific adviser, tells MPs that keeping the total number of Covid-19 deaths under 20,000 would be “a good outcome”.
18 March: Boris Johnson announces the indefinite closure of schools, with A-levels and GCSEs cancelled, to curb the spread of coronavirus.
19 March: Johnson says the UK can “turn the tide” of the disease in 12 weeks and “send coronavirus packing”.
In the following days and weeks, pictures show thousands of tourists waiting to board flights to their home countries as lockdowns are announced.
23 March: Boris Johnson announces the UK’s first national lockdown. People may only leave their homes for strictly limited reasons and the police are given powers to enforce the rules. The furlough scheme introduced by Rishi Sunak is broadly welcomed as an important intervention to protect jobs during lockdown.
26 March: Dr Jenny Harries, the chief executive of the UK Health and Security Agency, says testing and contact-tracing are no longer “appropriate”. She adds that the WHO’s plea to “test, test, test” is directed at less developed nations.
