efforts to monitor, analyze and study them, and prepare for a timely response.
(9) January 7: Xi Jinping, general secretary of the CPC Central Committee, presided over a meeting of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee and issued instructions on the prevention and control of a possible epidemic of the pneumonia of unknown cause in Wuhan.
(10) January 7: China CDC succeeded in isolating the first novel coronavirus strain.
(11) January 8: An expert evaluation team designated by the NHC initially identified a new coronavirus as the cause of the disease. The heads of the China and US CDCs held a telephone discussion on technical exchanges and cooperation.
(12) January 9: The NHC expert evaluation team released information on the pathogen of the viral pneumonia of unknown cause, and made a preliminary judgment that a new coronavirus was the cause.
China informed the WHO of developments and the initial progress that had been made in determining the cause of the viral pneumonia. The WHO released on its website a statement regarding a cluster of pneumonia cases in Wuhan, indicating that the preliminary identification of a novel coronavirus in such a short period of time was a notable achievement.
(13) January 10: Research institutions including China CDC and the Wuhan Institute of Virology (WIV) under the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) came up with an initial version of test kits. Wuhan immediately began to test all relevant cases admitted to local hospitals to screen for the new coronavirus.
The heads of the NHC and China CDC held separate telephone conversations with the head of the WHO about China's response to the disease, and exchanged information.
(14) January 11: China started to update the WHO and other parties concerned on a daily basis.
(15) January 12: The WCHC changed "viral pneumonia of unknown cause" to "pneumonia caused by the novel coronavirus" in an information circular on its website.
China CDC, the CAMS and the WIV, as designated agencies of the NHC, submitted to the WHO the genome sequence of the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV), which was published by the Global Initiative on Sharing All Influenza Data to be shared globally.
(16) January 13: Premier Li Keqiang chaired a State Council meeting and announced requirements for epidemic prevention and control.
(17) January 13: The NHC held a meeting to provide guidance to Hubei and Wuhan authorities, advising them to further strengthen management, step up body temperature monitoring at ports and stations, and reduce crowded
