the city of wuhan to contain the coronavirus outbreak. on january 23, 2020, chinese authorities locked down wuhan, sealing more than 11 million residents inside their homes. the 76-day lockdown signal the central government feared that the virus would spread rapidly. so, let s take a look at the timeline of how these events unfolded. on december 31, 2019, china alerts the world health organization to cases of, quote, viral pneumonia, in wuhan. on january 20th, china confirms person-to-person spread. three days later, china locks down millions of people in wuhan and within hubei province. on february 24, 2020, the city s first makeshift hospital starts to receive patients. in mid-march, wuhan registers zero new covid-19 cases.