5 years ago today, an event changed the entire world.

Over the years, it's not hard to come across jokes on the Internet that if you had to name a city that changed your life, the answer would be Wuhan.

On December 11, 2019, Wuhan, the capital of Hubei Province, China, reported the first case of a mysterious pneumonia with flu-like symptoms. Since then, the world has changed.

New Year chaos in Wuhan

The year 2020 began in a strange way in the city of 11 million people, Wuhan. It almost instantly turned into a 'ghost town' in just a few weeks, right around the time of the new year, as people were forced to quarantine themselves at home or tried to flee the mysterious pneumonia outbreak that caused extreme public panic at the time.

To date, the date of the Covid-19 pandemic outbreak and its origin have not been officially determined . Who 'Patient Zero' is is also a controversial topic.

On December 11, 2019, a 57-year-old Wuhan woman who tested positive for the coronavirus could be patient zero in the Covid-19 pandemic, according to SCMP.

The Huanan Seafood Market - where the new virus was first discovered - has changed the world in so many ways.

On December 27, a hospital in Wuhan reported the situation to the local Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CCDC). By December 31, the Wuhan CCDC had confirmed a cluster of pneumonia cases of unknown cause linked to the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market. This was also the day the World Health Organization (WHO) was alerted by Chinese authorities to a cluster of mysterious pneumonia cases.

Because of the unknown mystery and danger, as well as the possibility of human-to-human transmission, the patients were isolated.

On January 9, 2020 , WHO said the outbreak in Wuhan was caused by a previously unknown coronavirus, which can cause illness ranging from the common cold to more serious illnesses such as severe acute respiratory syndrome.

On January 11 , Chinese health authorities reported the first death from the disease, a 61-year-old man.

At the same time, travel restrictions were imposed. In a short time, many people tried to flee Wuhan. Those who remained were quarantined at home, following strict lockdown orders. The situation of Wuhan as a 'ghost town' caused panic and anxiety around the world because it was unprecedented in recent times. However, the coronavirus continued to spread rapidly, first in China, then around the world. From Wuhan, many other cities were also locked down.

Wuhan late 2019, early 2020. This was the first city to be hit by Covid-19 and became famous on the world map in an unwanted way.

Important milestones of the Covid-19 pandemic

On January 23, 2020 , the first case of Covid-19 caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus was confirmed in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam.

On January 30, 2020 , just about a month after the disease was discovered and attracted the world's attention, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared a global health emergency amid thousands of new cases in China.

On March 11, 2020 , WHO officially declared the outbreak of acute respiratory infection (Covid-19) caused by the new strain of Corona virus (SARS-CoV-2) a global pandemic.

Although countries and territories around the world have implemented various measures to prevent the spread of the virus and strictly control immigration, there is no place where Covid-19 has not 'invaded'. The period of isolation, blockade, and continuous recording of cases and deaths has become an obsession for everyone, without exception.

In the first 4 months of 2020 , more than 3 million infections and more than 210,000 deaths have been confirmed. The United States is one of the countries most affected. On May 28, 2020, the United States recorded more than 100,000 deaths from Covid-19.

Outbreaks have occurred continuously with a peak lasting from 2020 to 2022 on all 5 continents. Some places have implemented extremely strict lockdowns and quarantines like China, while others have implemented more lenient measures like Europe. The important thing is that no matter what, the pain and obsession of the epidemic has affected and changed the lives of almost everyone in the world. Vaccines have become the main anti-epidemic tool in many places.

The images remind us of the confusing "quarantine period" a few years ago.

Although the exact and officially recognized statistics are a controversial question and will be left unanswered, according to Worldometers, as of April 2024, more than 7 million people have died from Covid-19. In addition, more than 700 million cases of the disease have been recorded.

In Vietnam, according to information from the Ministry of Health, as of January 15, 2024, the whole country recorded 11,625,195 cases of Covid-19 infection and 43,206 deaths.

How has Covid-19 changed us?

By the end of 2024, Covid-19 appears to have become the 'new normal.' There are still people infected and new variants of the virus are circulating, but the world is back to normal. While the pre-Covid 'normal' will never return for some, especially those who have lost loved ones to the pandemic, we can still say that this great ordeal is over.

Looking back 5 years later, Covid-19 seems like a nightmare that has passed. Whether we were the ones who contracted the disease and suffered physical health effects from Covid-19 or not, all of our lives have been changed in unexpected ways.

The long months of people being isolated at home, limiting their travel and contact with others have created countless patients with depression, a culture of studying and working from home, and prevented hundreds of millions of students from going to school in person. Many encounters, opportunities and moments of 'normal', 'without Covid-19' have been missed.

Adults who are lucky enough to keep their jobs have to work from home.

Children are getting used to online learning.

And medical staff everywhere defy danger, day and night fighting the epidemic.

On a broader scale, Covid-19 has had a profound impact on the global economy and society. In other words, no sector has been left unaffected, no life has been left unaltered.

We cannot deny that the negative side of the pandemic has pushed many people into illness, poverty, job loss and especially the psychological burden of anxiety and loss, or even more tragically, the loss of loved ones.

However, the months of fighting and winning against Covid-19 have also taught us many lessons about the importance of physical and mental health, the importance of connection, and ways for humans to overcome unforeseen pandemics in the future.

Covid-19 is a pandemic that has had a strong global impact that we can never forget.

The pandemic, which is not limited by borders, has taught us lessons about solidarity and how each individual has a responsibility towards the community. At the same time, it has also been a driving force for the continuous development of information technology, online education and remote medical services.

The Covid-19 pandemic has become a severe global phenomenon , not only shaking the global economy, transportation and supply chains but also deeply affecting people's spiritual, cultural and social lives.

These changes not only challenge the resilience of individuals but also force countries to reconsider their health and social security policies, in order to firmly recover and face any potential pandemics that may come in the uncertain future.