Coronavirus outbreak: A timeline of what we know so far

ORIGIN: The coronavirus (renamed Covid-19), surfaced in a Chinese seafood and poultry market late last year. It has since spread to 24 countries, killing more than 1,500 and sickening tens of thousands of people in a matter of weeks.

HEALTH EMERGENCY: The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared the situation a global health emergency.

CONFIRMATION: On December 31, the government in Wuhan, China, confirmed that health authorities were treating dozens of cases. Days later, researchers in China identified a new virus behind an illness that had infected dozens of people in Asia.

UNCONFIRMED PERSON-TO-PERSON TRANSMISSION: At the time, there was no evidence that the virus was readily spread by humans. Health officials in China were monitoring it to ensure that the outbreak would not develop into something more severe.

FIRST KNOWN DEATH: On January 11, Chinese state media reported the first known death from the illness caused by the virus, which had infected dozens of people in China.

FALLEN: The 61-year-old man who died was a regular customer at the market in Wuhan, where the illness is thought to have originated, and he had previously been found to have abdominal tumors and chronic liver disease.

CHINESE NEW YEAR: The report of his death came just before one of China's biggest holidays, when hundreds of millions of people travel across the country.

CASES OUTSIDE CHINA: The first confirmed cases of the coronavirus outside mainland China occurred in Japan, South Korea and Thailand, according to the WHO's first situation report published Jan. 20.

FIRST CASE IN THE U.S.: The first confirmed case in the US came the next day in Washington state, where a man in his 30s developed symptoms after returning from a trip to Wuhan.

TRAVEL RESTRICTIONS: After Chinese officials urged people not to travel to or from Wuhan, severe travel restrictions were put in place. On Jan. 23, authorities closed off Wuhan by canceling planes and trains leaving the city and suspending buses, subways and ferries within it.

SPREAD: At this point, at least 17 people had died and more than 570 others had been infected, including in Taiwan, Japan, Thailand, South Korea and the U.S.

DECLARATION OF EMERGENCY: Amid thousands of new cases in China, a "public health emergency of international concern" was officially declared Jan. 30 by the WHO.

CONCERNS OVER PUBLIC HEALTH: The country's Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said that China would continue to work with the WHO and other countries to protect public health, and the U.S. State Department warned travelers to avoid China.

SERVICE SUSPENDED: On January 31, Delta Air Lines, American Airlines and United Airlines said they would suspend service, for at least two months, between the U.S. and mainland China.

SUSPENDED ENTRY: The Trump administration said it would suspend entry into the U.S. by any foreign nationals who had traveled to China in the last 14 days, excluding the immediate family members of U.S. citizens or permanent residents. By this date, 213 people had died and nearly 9,800 had been infected worldwide.

FIRST DEATH OUTSIDE CHINA: A 44-year-old man in the Philippines died after being infected by the coronavirus, officials said Feb. 2. The man's death was the first reported outside China. By this point, the number of deaths had risen to more than 360.

QUARANTINED: On February 5, after a two-week trip to Southeast Asia, more than 3,600 passengers began their 14-day quarantine aboard the Diamond Princess cruise ship in Yokohama, Japan.

PASSENGERS POSITIVE: Officials began screening passengers, and the number of people who tested positive became the largest number of coronavirus cases outside of China. By Feb. 13, the number stood at 218.

FEBRUARY 10 DEATH TOLL AT 908: On February 10, the death toll in China rose to 908, surpassing the global number of dead from the SARS epidemic in 2002-03, which killed 774. At this point, the number of confirmed cases of infection in the country had risen to 40,171.

FEBRUARY 8 DEATH TOLL AT 1,016: Chinese officials said the death toll had reached 1,016 while the number of infections had grown to 42,638 on Feb. 11. A U.S. citizen died in Wuhan, officials said Feb. 8; it was the first known American death.