February

3 February

Qantas begins a mission to repatriate Australians stranded in China. A Boeing 747-400ER departs Australia on 2 February bound for Hong Kong, before travelling to Wuhan. A 14-person volunteer crew, as well as two pilots, take part. Qantas says the call for volunteers was “oversubscribed” with “scores of people putting their hand up to assist”.

Operating as QF6032, the aircraft departs Wuhan at 7:45am local time on 3 February and arrives in Exmouth, Western Australia at 4pm. Passengers are then transferred to Christmas Island for a period in quarantine. Passengers and crew are required to wear surgical masks for the journey, which are changed hourly. There are limited food and beverages onboard, and the upper deck of the 747 is reserved for crew use only. Health officials onboard monitor the journey. Qantas says that all of its aircraft, “contain medical-grade HEPA filters as part of the air conditioning system, which significantly reduces the risk of virus spread”. The journey is paid for by the Australian government.

7 February

Chinese doctor Li Wenliang dies from the coronavirus. He was hailed a hero for trying to ring the alarm bell that the virus had the potential to grow out of control. In early January, authorities reportedly reprimanded him and forced him to sign a statement calling his warning an illegal rumour.

11 February

The WHO renames the infection as COVID-19, an acronym that stands for coronavirus disease 2019. The name is chosen as it does not refer to people, places or animals associated with the virus, to stop future stigma.

14 February

An 80-year-old Chinese tourist dies at a hotel in Paris, becoming the first COVID-19 death outside of Asia, and the fourth outside of mainland China, where 1,500 have now died.

18 February

Singapore cancels 670 flights departing from Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane and Perth, which it blames on the coronavirus. Other affected destinations include LA, Frankfurt, Paris and Tokyo. The scale of the cutbacks take much of the industry by surprise. Globally, COVID-19 causes China’s share of the aviation market to slump from third to 25th according to a new analysis. The nation’s capacity has now reduced by 1.7 million seats. The Official Aviation Guide says, “No event that we remember has had such a devastating effect on capacity.”

20 February

Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce asks staff to take annual leave to alleviate losses caused by the coronavirus downturn. The airline also announces reduced capacity to Asia that amount to the equivalent of grounding 18 flights. He tells reporters he thinks the virus could cost Qantas $150 million in earnings this year.

25 February

Global airline stocks plunge as the virus takes hold in Italy, where it has infected 220 and killed seven. In Europe, easyJet crashes 15 per cent, Ryanair 12 per cent while in the US, American dips 8.5 per cent and Delta 6.3 per cent. The World Health Organisation significantly ups its rhetoric, stating that, even though COVID-19 isn’t a pandemic yet, the world should “do everything you would” to prepare for that eventuality.

26 February

In Italy, a 76-year-old woman becomes the 12th in the country to die of coronavirus. The news and tension cause yet more large share falls for US airlines such as American, United and Delta.

28 February

In Italy, 800 are now infected, while there are 14 cases in other countries that can be traced back to Italy, too. Germany has 60 cases and France 57 – tripling that of just two days earlier.

29 February

A patient near Seattle becomes the first US citizen to die of COVID-19. President Trump responds by issuing a “Do not travel” warning to areas such as Italy and South Korea. The nation also bars entry to anyone who has visited Iran in the last 14 days.