Abstract and Introduction Abstract The World Health Organization (WHO) declared the COVID-19 virus outbreak to be a Public Health Emergency of International Concern on January 30, 2020. Although the Chinese central government implemented significant measures to control the epidemic from January 20 within China, the crisis had already escalated dramatically. Between December 1, 2019, and January 20, 2020, a total of 51 days passed before the Chinese central government took full control.