Editor’s Note: WORLD will periodically update this interactive timeline as the coronavrius pandemic unfolds.

November 17

A 55-year-old in China’s central Hubei province is the first known person to contract the disease COVID-19 caused by the new coronavirus (according to Chinese government data revealed in March 2020).

December 8

Date established by the World Health Organization (WHO) of the first confirmed case of COVID-19 reported by Chinese authorities. An analysis of the first 41 patients found 27 had direct exposure to a Wuhan seafood market, although this case did not.