January 11, 2025 marked the fifth anniversary of the first COVID-19 death in China, a day that the Chinese Communist Party remains silent about.
On January 11, 2020, health officials in Wuhan announced the death of a 61-year-old man due to complications from pneumonia caused by an unknown virus infection.
On that day, the state-run Xinhua News Agency reported the death case based on information from the Wuhan Municipal Health Commission.
According to Agence France-Presse, prior to the announcement, authorities had reported dozens of infections caused by what later became known as the SARS-CoV-2 pathogen, leading to what was named as the COVID-19 virus.
This virus subsequently sparked a global pandemic, resulting in the deaths of over 7 million people and significantly altering lifestyles worldwide, including in China. However, on January 11 this year, there seemed to be no official commemoration from the tightly controlled media.
During the three-year pandemic period, the Chinese Communist Party enforced a “dynamic zero-COVID” policy, rigorously controlling public discourse throughout. Since the CCP reluctantly lifted the “zero-COVID policy” at the end of 2022, there has been an avoidance of reflections on pandemic-related policies, with public discussions heavily restricted.
On social media, only a few users mentioned this date, with some comments appearing on the late whistleblower Dr. Li Wenliang’s account. Some users wrote, “Dr. Li, another year has passed.”
Little is known about the identity of the first COVID-19 death case in China, except that he was a 61-year-old man with respiratory failure, severe pneumonia, and concurrent abdominal tumor and chronic liver disease. The patient regularly conducted business at the Huanan Seafood Market in Wuhan. Despite receiving treatment including the use of a ventilator after hospitalization, his condition did not improve, and he passed away on the evening of January 9, 2020.
Just a few days after the announcement of this death case, other countries also reported their first cases.
At the end of last year, the World Health Organization conducted a review of the COVID-19 pandemic and continues efforts to explore the origins of the disease five years after its emergence. The WHO recalled that on December 31, 2019, their office in China obtained a media statement from the Wuhan Municipal Health Commission’s website regarding cases of “viral pneumonia” in the city.
The WHO stated, “In the subsequent weeks, months, and years, COVID-19 began to affect our lives and the world.” Globally, confirmed cases of this disease caused by SARS-CoV-2 have surpassed 770,748,803 cases, with over 7 million deaths.
The WHO continues to urge China to share data and grant access for investigation to understand the origins of COVID-19. This is an urgent ethical and scientific imperative. Without transparency, sharing, and inter-country cooperation, the world cannot effectively prevent future pandemics and be prepared for them.
The WHO also acknowledges and mourns the lives lost to this disease, recognizing that many are still suffering from the torment of the illness and post-COVID complications.
The accuracy of the officially reported COVID-19 confirmed cases and death toll by the Chinese authorities remains under scrutiny by the international community, with continuous questioning of the CCP’s handling of the pandemic.