Wang Fei

Wuhan: The source of the pandemic coronavirus, 587, 151 dead worldwide

Wang Fei
Wang Fei

In mid-January when Wang Fei began to feel unwell, China’s official death toll stood at just three and today more than 14 million people have been infected worldwide, and at least 587, 151 have died and the virus has forced the lockdown of entire economies throughout the world.

The virus was first discovered in Wuhan and the first attempts made to contain it and are now at the heart of an escalating propaganda war between Washington and Beijing.

Did the Coronavirus as most scientists think came from nature or might it have leaked from a lab?

Mr Wang and her brother, who worked as a driver, over the course of 44 years, Wuhan, the Chinese city grew from a declining industrial backwater into a booming international business and transport hub.

Li Wenliang, a doctor who tried to warn colleagues to take precautions against infection was reprimanded and made to sign a confession by the police. On the Weekend of 18 January, the Chinese authorities still insisting the disease was not contagious, Wang Fei began to feel unwell and was admitted to hospital where he was given paracetamol for his fever and sent home. “They say there’s no human-to-human transmission, but he doctors are all wearing masks,” he told his sister.

On January 23, Wuhan was put under lockdown and became one of the longest and strictest attempts to contain the spread of the virus, but was too late to prevent an estimated five million people leaving the city in the run-up to the Chinese national holiday. By January 25, Mr. Wang’s condition deteriorated and seven hours later was finally admitted to hospital after finding himself in a health system that was now totally overwhelmed. On 7 February Dr. Li Wenliang, the doctor censored by the police, died in the same hospital. Mr. Wang Fei lived a short walk from Huanan Seafood Market. a large market that became an early focus of the unfolding story, which is known to have had some trade in wild mammals sold there as delicacies.

Sars-CoV-2 as it has now been named belongs to a family of coronaviruses named for their spikey or crown-like surfaces. A vast number of these viruses have been shown to be carried by bats and thought to have the potential to infect humans. The Sars coronavirus is thought to have jumped from bats to humans via the civet cat – a small furry mammal sold in the markets of Southern China.

After the authorities failed to acknowledge the outbreak for several months Sars went on to cause 774 deaths worldwide.

Nearly two decades later, the very first cluster of Sars CoV-2 cases appeared on Mr. Wang’s Wuhan neighborhood with a connection to the seafood market.

In mid-May, the World Health Organization passed a resolution calling for an international effort to trace the likely intermediate animal host and it has been given permission to send a team of investigators to China for this purpose.

As Wang Fei lay dying in hospital   The Wuhan Institute of Virology, a location 40-minute drive from the Huanan Seafood Market was already becoming the focus of an altogether different theory that the virus might have leaked from a lab.

MrWang’s lungs were being ravaged by the pathogen, filling with fluid and white blood cells, and the oxygen in his blood was plummeting. “My heartbeat rate is 160 per min, and my blood oxygen saturation is only 70, it’s killing me” he texted his sister. On 8 February he died.

# Country, Total New Total New Total Active Serious, Tot Cases/ Deaths/ Total Tests/ Population
Other Cases Cases Deaths Deaths Recovered Cases Critical 1M pop 1M pop Tests 1M pop
  World 13,707,722 23,832 587,151 952 8,167,002 4,953,569 59,636 1,759 75.3  
1 USA 3,617,408 581 140,150 6 1,646,128 1,831,130 16,459 10,926 423 44,849,266 135,463 331081677
2 Brazil 1,970,909 75,523 1,366,775 528,611 8,318 9,270 355 4,911,063 23,098 212620008
3 India 970,596 427 24,935 6 613,820 331,841 8,944 703 18 12,739,490 9,228 1380530110
4 Russia 752,797 6,428 11,937 167 531,692 209,168 2,300 5,158 82 24,053,516 164,821 145937175
5 Peru 337,724 12,417 226,400 98,907 1,325 10,238 376 1,983,932 60,140 32988703
6 Chile 321,205 7,186 292,085 21,934 1,915 16,797 376 1,334,712 69,797 19122661
7 Mexico 317,635 6,149 36,906 579 199,129 81,600 378 2,463 286 768,457 5,958 128984785
8 South Africa 311,049 4,453 160,693 145,903 539 5,242 75 2,278,127 38,393 59336622
9 Spain 304,574 28,413 N/A N/A 617 6,514 608 6,026,446 128,893 46755564
10 UK 291,911   45,053   N/A N/A 145 4,299 664 12,461,869 183,531 67900637
11 Iran 264,561 13,410 227,561 23,590 3,411 3,148 160 2,048,049 24,372 84033003
12 Pakistan 257,914 2,145 5,426 40 178,737 73,751 1,942 1,167 25 1,652,183 7,475 221037609
13 Italy 243,506 34,997 196,016 12,493 57 4,028 579 6,053,060 100,120 60457891
14 Saudi Arabia 240,474 2,325 183,048 55,101 2,221 6,904 67 2,436,683 69,953 34833307
15 Turkey 215,940 5,419 197,733 12,788 1,206 2,559 64 4,107,498 48,682 84373811
16 Germany 201,252 9,148 186,000 6,104 248 2,402 109 6,376,054 76,091 83795199
17 Bangladesh 193,590 2,457 105,523 85,610 1 1,175 15 980,402 5,951 164752852
18 France 173,304 30,120 78,820 64,364 482 2,655 461 2,532,227 38,790 65279649
19 Colombia 165,169 5,814 71,736 87,619 1,027 3,245 114 1,108,148 21,770 50903682
20 Argentina 111,146 2,050 47,298 61,798 752 2,458 45 495,065 10,950 45211980
21 Canada 108,829 8,810 72,485 27,534 2,173 2,882 233 3,341,893 88,515 37755152
22 Qatar 104,983 151 101,637 3,195 135 37,390 54 424,858 151,313 2,807,805
23 Egypt 84,843 4,067 26,135 54,641 41 829 40 135,000 1,318 102400332
24 Iraq 83,867 3,432 52,621 27,814 374 2,084 85 728,737 18,105 40251640
25 China 83,612 1 4,634 78,719 259 3 58 3 90,410,000 62,814 1,439,323,776
26 Indonesia 80,094 3,797 39,050 37,247 293 14 1,122,339 4,102 273634614
27 Sweden 76,492 5,572 N/A N/A 81 7,572 552 681,820 67,495 10101817
28 Ecuador 70,329 5,158 30,641 34,530 313 3,984 292 190,349 10,783 17652711
29 Belarus 65,443 480 56,379 8,584 89 6,926 51 1,151,734 121,887 9449187
30 Kazakhstan 65,188 1,674 375 39,066 25,747 221 3,470 20 1,737,546 92,496 18785170
31 Belgium 63,039 167 9,792 4 17,242 36,005 27 5,438 845 1,398,080 120,610 11591714
32 Oman 61,247 281 39,038 21,928 139 11,984 55 253,444 49,592 5110615
33 Philippines 58,850 1,614 20,976 36,260 333 537 15 1,019,263 9,297 109635041
34 Kuwait 56,877 399 46,897 9,581 146 13,311 93 445,184 104,189 4272860
35 Ukraine 56,455 848 1,445 18 28,931 26,079 79 1,291 33 840,332 19,220 43721568
36 UAE 55,848 335 46,418 9,095 1 5,644 34 4,316,763 436,262 9894897
37 Bolivia 52,218 1,351 1,942 44 16,357 33,919 71 4,471 166 114,270 9,784 11678886
38 Netherlands 51,252 6,136 N/A N/A 20 2,991 358 764,079 44,588 17136483
39 Panama 49,243 982 25,417 22,844 157 11,406 227 174,345 40,384 4317196
40 Dominican Republic 47,671 929 23,459 23,283 246 4,393 86 198,496 18,291 10852115
41 Portugal 47,426 1,676 32,110 13,640 68 4,652 164 1,396,902 137,013 10195373
42 Singapore 47,126 248 27 42,988 4,111 8,053 5 1,009,532 172,506 5852170
43 Israel 44,714 526 380 4 20,100 24,234 204 4,861 41 1,317,362 143,229 9,197,590
44 Poland 38,721 1,594 28,492 8,635 73 1,023 42 1,860,592 49,164 37844784
45 Afghanistan 35,070 76 1,113 19 22,824 11,133 31 900 29 82,352 2,114 38956620
46 Bahrain 34,560 117 30,320 4,123 48 20,292 69 693,539 407,223 1703093
47 Nigeria 34,259 760 13,999 19,500 7 166 4 199,016 965 206298262
48 Romania 34,226 1,952 22,049 10,225 248 1,780 101 886,918 46,118 19231695
49 Armenia 33,559 554 607 15 21,931 11,021 10 11,324 205 141,410 47,718 2963479
50 Switzerland 33,148 1,968 29,800 1,380 20 3,829 227 700,326 80,896 8657154
51 Guatemala 32,074 1,350 4,624 26,100 5 1,789 75 64,590 3,603 17926950
52 Honduras 30,036 930 825 18 3,379 25,832 58 3,031 83 49,308 4,975 9910227
53 Ireland 25,683 1,748 23,364 571 9 5,199 354 527,746 106,834 4939886
54 Azerbaijan 25,672 326 16,695 8,651 66 2,531 32 592,778 58,443 10142755
55 Ghana 25,430 139 21,511 3,780 8 818 4 336,093 10,809 31094417
56 Japan 22,508 984 18,545 2,979 38 178 8 586,706 4,639 126459029
57 Algeria 20,770 1,040 14,792 4,938 61 473 24 43878420
58 Moldova 20,040 662 3 13,640 5,738 358 4,968 164 101,180 25,085 4033544
59 Serbia 19,334 429 14,047 4,858 169 2,213 49 515,395 58,998 8735770
60 Austria 19,270 116 711 1 17,244 1,315 11 2,139 79 726,345 80,629 9008494
61 Nepal 17,177 39 11,025 6,113 589 1 611,231 20,965 29154945
62 Morocco 16,262 259 13,821 2,182 31 440 7 924,695 25,041 36927069
63 Cameroon 15,173 359 11,928 2,886 52 571 14 120,837 4,548 26566347
64 Uzbekistan 14,787 206 72 1 8,655 6,060 43 442 2 1,377,915 41,148 33486859
65 S. Korea 13,612 61 291 2 12,396 925 15 265 6 1,441,348 28,112 51271089
66 Czechia 13,475 355 8,507 4,613 19 1,258 33 606,878 56,666 10709829
67 Ivory Coast 13,403 87 7,146 6,170 508 3 79,895 3,026 26398568
68 Denmark 13,092 610 12,182 300 6 2,260 105 1,276,389 220,331 5793056
69 Kyrgyzstan 12,498 521 167 7 3,735 8,596 24 1,915 26 259,793 39,797 6528003
70 Kenya 11,252 209 3,068 7,975 44 209 4 225,495 4,191 53809800
71 El Salvador 10,957 312 298 12 6,257 4,402 413 1,689 46 202,126 31,156 6487551
72 Australia 10,810 323 113 2 8,035 2,662 30 424 4 3,284,182 128,735 25511086
73 Sudan 10,527 668 5,601 4,258 240 15 401 9 43881832
74 Venezuela 10,428 100 3,050 7,278 24 367 4 1,406,576 49,471 28432321
75 Norway 9,011 253 8,138 620 1 1,662 47 388,021 71,552 5422926
76 Costa Rica 8,986 40 2,551 6,395 31 1,763 8 61,216 12,013 5095937
77 Malaysia 8,734 122 8,526 86 5 270 4 861,896 26,617 32381446
78 North Macedonia 8,530 393 4,565 3,572 55 4,094 189 80,774 38,771 2083370
79 Senegal 8,369 153 5,605 2,611 37 499 9 92,905 5,544 16757263
80 Ethiopia 8,181 146 2,430 5,605 35 71 1 250,604 2,178 115052048
81 DRC 8,163 192 3,983 3,988 91 2 89637777
82 Bulgaria 7,877 289 3,841 3,747 28 1,134 42 189,953 27,347 6945980
83 Bosnia and Herzegovina 7,411 235 3,335 3,841 2,260 72 114,344 34,862 3279870
84 Finland 7,296 328 6,880 88 1 1,317 59 291,100 52,535 5541089
85 Palestine 7,064 46 2 1,084 5,934 1,384 9 141,444 27,706 5105193
86 Haiti 6,902 71 145 2 3,484 3,273 605 13 14,963 1,312 11407750
87 Tajikistan 6,695 56 5,383 1,256 701 6 9544560
88 French Guiana 6,299 33 3,738 2,528 24 21,073 110 11,609 38,837 298918
89 Guinea 6,276 38 4,981 1,257 24 478 3 14,407 1,096 13143415
90 Gabon 6,121 46 3,664 2,411 11 2,748 21 52,166 23,420 2227398
91 Madagascar 5,605 43 2,811 2,751 51 202 2 30,530 1,102 27712778
92 Mauritania 5,564 149 2,830 2,585 5 1,196 32 13,842 2,975 4653356
93 Luxembourg 5,122 111 4,247 764 4 8,178 177 302,812 483,463 626339
94 Djibouti 4,985 56 4,765 164 5,043 57 52,257 52,864 988523
95 CAR 4,362 53 1,261 3,048 2 903 11 27,679 5,727 4832699
96 Hungary 4,279 16 595 3,156 528 5 443 62 300,632 31,124 9659253
97 Croatia 3,953 120 2,629 1,204 5 963 29 97,724 23,811 4104090
98 Greece 3,910 193 1,374 2,343 13 375 19 391,773 37,596 10420718
99 Albania 3,752 101 2,091 1,560 10 1,304 35 29,695 10,319 2877658
100 Thailand 3,236 4 58 3,095 83 1 46 0.8 603,657 8,647 69807396
101 Paraguay 3,198 25 1,338 1,835 11 448 4 96,060 13,462 7135825
102 Nicaragua 3,147 99 2,282 766 475 15 6627526
103 Somalia 3,083 93 1,425 1,565 2 194 6 15906257
104 Equatorial Guinea 3,071 51 842 2,178 2,187 36 16,000 11,394 1404216
105 Maldives 2,831 14 2,321 496 12 5,234 26 64,239 118,769 540875
106 Mayotte 2,743 37 2,581 125 3 10,047 136 13,000 47,615 273022
107 Sri Lanka 2,674 3 11 2,007 656 1 125 0.5 130,390 6,088 21416978
108 Malawi 2,614 43 1,005 1,566 4 137 2 21,953 1,147 19145027
109 Lebanon 2,542 38 1,455 1,049 14 373 6 189,723 27,802 6824048
110 Cuba 2,438 87 2,277 74 2 215 8 211,427 18,667 11326313
111 Mali 2,433 121 1,764 548 120 6 16,317 805 20267697
112 Congo 2,222 47 589 1,586 402 9 5522317
113 South Sudan 2,153 41 1,175 937 192 4 12,044 1,075 11198686
114 Estonia 2,016 69 1,904 43 1 1,520 52 113,569 85,611 1326574
115 Slovakia 1,951 24 28 1,514 409 2 357 5 235,772 43,184 5459757
116 Iceland 1,911 10 1,885 16 5,599 29 106,883 313,135 341332
117 Lithuania 1,902 6 79 1,593 230 15 699 29 472,804 173,800 2720387
118 Zambia 1,895 42 1,412 441 1 103 2 56,825 3,088 18399061
119 Slovenia 1,878 111 1,501 266 1 903 53 118,353 56,929 2078950
120 Guinea-Bissau 1,842 26 773 1,043 5 935 13 1,500 762 1969474
121 Cabo Verde 1,837 57 19 892 926 3,303 34 41,091 73,876 556218
122 Sierra Leone 1,668 64 1,200 404 209 8 7982400
123 Libya 1,589 43 373 1,173 231 6 37,324 5,429 6874735
124 Hong Kong 1,589 10 1,241 338 6 212 1 376,645 50,223 7499390
125 New Zealand 1,548 1 22 1,499 27 309 4 436,233 87,210 5,002,100
126 Yemen 1,526 433 694 399 51 15 120 4 29847320
127 Eswatini 1,489 20 724 745 5 1,283 17 17,559 15,129 1160626
128 Rwanda 1,435 4 752 679 111 0.3 194,802 15,028 12962189
129 Benin 1,378 26 557 795 1 114 2 67,622 5,573 12132824
130 Mozambique 1,330 9 375 946 43 0.3 42,551 1,360 31281122
131 Tunisia 1,319 50 1,091 178 112 4 80,538 6,812 11823372
132 Montenegro 1,287 24 330 933 7 2,049 38 27,367 43,573 628069
133 Jordan 1,201 10 1,016 175 3 118 1 483,111 47,331 10207054
134 Latvia 1,179 1 31 1,022 126 625 16 175,696 93,198 1885181
135 Niger 1,100 69 993 38 45 3 6,658 275 24228441
136 Zimbabwe 1,089 20 395 674 73 1 95,860 6,446 14870792
137 Liberia 1,056 51 447 558 209 10 5061453
138 Uganda 1,043 1,004 39 23 232,608 5,081 45780602
139 Burkina Faso 1,038 53 882 103 50 3 20920270
140 Cyprus 1,025 19 839 167 849 16 167,394 138,604 1207711
141 Uruguay 1,009 31 909 69 1 290 9 82,772 23,825 3474234
142 Georgia 1,006 2 15 883 108 5 252 4 156,144 39,145 3988826
143 Namibia 960 2 31 927 1 378 0.8 16,305 6,413 2542495
144 Chad 885 75 799 11 54 5 16439519
145 Andorra 862 52 803 7 11,156 673 3,750 48,531 77270
146 Suriname 837 18 573 246 5 1,426 31 1,244 2,120 586838
147 Jamaica 763 1 10 647 106 258 3 28,959 9,778 2961703
148 Togo 740 15 534 191 2 89 2 36,706 4,430 8284888
149 Sao Tome and Principe 737 14 322 401 3,361 64 2,024 9,229 219299
150 Diamond Princess 712 13 651 48 4
151 San Marino 699 42 656 1 20,599 1,238 5,729 168,828 33934
152 Malta 674 9 661 4 1,526 20 109,538 248,052 441593
153 Réunion 608 3 472 133 4 679 3 35,419 39,549 895568
154 Channel Islands 581 47 512 22 3,341 270 21,410 123,098 173926
155 Angola 576 27 124 425 6 18 0.8 10,000 304 32894558
156 Tanzania 509 21 183 305 7 9 0.4 59783703
157 Syria 458 22 140 296 26 1 17513972
158 Taiwan 452 1 7 440 5 19 0.3 79,065 3,319 23818615
159 Botswana 399 1 38 360 1 170 0.4 51,379 21,834 2353216
160 Vietnam 381 353 28 1 4 275,000 2,824 97372880
161 Mauritius 343 10 331 2 270 8 193,561 152,188 1271858
162 Myanmar 337 6 266 65 6 0.1 96,324 1,770 54424500
163 Isle of Man 336 24 312 0 3,951 282 7,346 86,372 85051
164 Comoros 321 7 302 12 369 8 870210
165 Guyana 313 18 156 139 5 398 23 3,418 4,345 786708
166 Burundi 269 1 207 61 23 0.08 6,697 563 11900836
167 Mongolia 261 209 52 3 80 28,497 8,688 3280168
168 Lesotho 256 3 48 205 119 1 6,033 2,815 2142923
169 Martinique 255 15 98 142 5 680 40 375252
170 Eritrea 232 107 125 65 3548224
171 Cayman Islands 203 1 200 2 3,087 15 27,206 413,773 65751
172 Guadeloupe 190 14 157 19 4 475 35 11,538 28,836 400127
173 Faeroe Islands 188 188 0 3,847 25,276 517,198 48871
174 Gibraltar 180 180 0 5,343 16,789 498,323 33691
175 Cambodia 166 1 133 33 1 10 48,435 2,896 16727464
176 Bermuda 150 9 137 4 1 2,409 145 14,751 236,895 62268
177 Brunei 141 3 138 0 322 7 34,797 79,510 437642
178 Trinidad and Tobago 133 8 124 1 95 6 5,883 4,203 1399678
179 Bahamas 119 11 91 17 1 302 28 2,552 6,487 393390
180 Monaco 109 4 98 7 2,777 102 16,200 412,707 39253
181 Aruba 106 3 99 4 993 28 4,127 38,648 106785
182 Barbados 104 7 90 7 362 24 9,091 31,633 287390
183 Seychelles 100 27 73 1,017 98372
184 Liechtenstein 84 1 81 2 2,203 26 900 23,602 38133
185 Bhutan 84 78 6 109 39,451 51,107 771932
186 Sint Maarten 78 15 63 0 1,818 350 523 12,193 42894
187 Antigua and Barbuda 74 3 57 14 1 755 31 901 9,198 97961
188 Turks and Caicos 72 2 12 58 4 1,859 52 946 24,422 38736
189 Gambia 64 3 34 27 26 1 3,573 1,477 2418657
190 French Polynesia 62 60 2 221 4,649 16,546 280974
191 Macao 46 45 1 71 4,071 6,266 649661
192 Saint Martin 43 3 37 3 1 1,111 78 851 21,996 38689
193 Belize 39 2 21 16 98 5 2,665 6,698 397877
194 St. Vincent Grenadines 35 29 6 315 1,213 10,932 110955
195 Curaçao 26 1 24 1 158 6 1,080 6,581 164121
196 Fiji 26 18 8 29 4,000 4,461 896705
197 Timor-Leste 24 24 0 18 1,568 1,189 1319300
198 Grenada 23 23 0 204 5,465 48,558 112545
199 New Caledonia 22 21 1 77 9,424 32,997 285605
200 Saint Lucia 22 19 3 120 2,111 11,494 183662
201 Laos 19 19 0 3 21,764 2,990 7279402
202 Dominica 18 18 0 250 851 11,820 71994
203 Saint Kitts and Nevis 17 15 2 319 705 13,248 53214
204 Falkland Islands 13 13 0 3,732 1,660 476,601 3483
205 Greenland 13 13 0 229 5,098 89,795 56774
206 Montserrat 12 1 10 1 2,404 200 61 12,220 4992
207 Vatican City 12 12 0 14,981 801
208 Papua New Guinea 11 8 3 1 7,147 798 8952806
209 Western Sahara 10 1 8 1 17 2 597797
210 MS Zaandam 9 2 7
211 Caribbean Netherlands 9 7 2 343 424 16,163 26233
212 British Virgin Islands 8 1 7 0 265 33 439 14,518 30239
213 St. Barth 6 6 0 607 507 51,326 9878
214 Anguilla 3 3 0 200 380 25,320 15008
215 Saint Pierre Miquelon 2 1 1 345 5793
Total: 13,707,722 23,832 587,151 952 8,167,002 4,953,569 59,636 1,758.60 75.3