Covid-19: Total cases worldwide

This illustration provided by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in January 2020 shows the 2019 Novel Coronavirus (2019-nCoV). This virus was identified as the cause of an outbreak of respiratory illness first detected in Wuhan, China. (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention via AP)

PETALING JAYA: The World Health Organization (WHO) was first alerted on Dec 31,2019, to the presence of several pneumonia cases in Wuhan City, Hubei Province of China, which did not match any other known virus.

A week later, Chinese authorities confirmed that they had identified a new virus.