Watch | One year of COVID-19: Eerie first news reports revisited
What were you doing this time last year? If we go back to 17 November 2019, we land on a Sunday. You probably had your feet up at home, or you may have been taking in the last of the spring sunshine before it gave way to the punishing heat of summer. Millions of us will have been maximising this day of rest, but halfway across the world, something sinister was brewing. One year ago today, COVID-19 was introduced to the world…
When was the first case of COVID-19 reported?
Several reports have confirmed that ‘patient zero’ in this deadly pandemic first reported symptoms on this date in 2019. Chinese authorities trace the first cluster of cases back to last November. That means we are, somewhat begrudgingly, marking our macabre ‘first anniversary’ with COVID-19. We didn’t get it a card, put it that way…
Thinking back 12 months, to that calm before a deadly storm, almost feels perverse. We all stood on the brink of catastrophe and didn’t really have a clue about it. Reminiscing about that previous Christmas and New Year period comes with an eerie sense of foreboding – something that is captured hauntingly well by the first news reports on coronavirus:
October 12, 2020CNN proved right over fears of ‘busy travel season’
Although we haven’t been able to obtain the earliest known footage of COVID-19 coverage from the US, an article which appears on CNN’s website from 7 January 2020 refers to the disease as a ‘mystery pneumonia’. Very little was known about the coronavirus at the turn of the year, as the potential for human-to-human transmission was still up for debate:
“Authorities have said that there has been no obvious evidence of human-to-human transmission so far – but there are still fears of a nationwide epidemic. The outbreak came just before the start of the busy Lunar New Year travel season, when hundreds of millions of Chinese are expected to be crammed into trains, buses, and planes for family reunions.”
Nectar Gan, CNN
eNCA feature with Zweli Mkhize ‘aged like milk’
Looking at our local coverage, eNCA waited until the end of January to broadcast a segment on coronavirus. They covered the reaction of Health Minister Zweli Mkhize, who was set to embark upon a year he could never have possibly envisioned. In a haunting segment, Mkhize’s claims that coronavirus ‘will not become a national threat’ proved to be wishful thinking:
“We have activated outbreak response teams and we will be able to detect any new cases of coronavirus. Screenings of travellers returning from China will be screened upon arrival in South Africa. Citizens are advised against all non-essential travel to Wuhan. We have responded rapidly to ensure that COVID-19 will not become a national threat.”
Zweli Mkhize
SABC warned about ‘lack of treatments’
A week earlier, SABC proved to be a little quicker on the uptake. The state network hosted Dr. Sibongile Walaza, from the National Institute of Communicable Diseases (NICD). She was very keen to stress that the biggest challenge facing humanity was the lack of ‘specific treatments or vaccines’ for the COVID-19 strain. How right her prediction proved to be…
One at a private hospital, and the other at a public hospital.- You can see the most recent coronavirus stats for South Africa – published on 16 November – below:
