Who Knew What When: The International Transmission of Information on the COVID-19 Outbreak

This note focuses on the question of the international transmission of information concerning the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in Wuhan – who knew what when. In contrast to the dominant narrative, this review establishes, based on published information outside of mainland China, that the policy-relevant information as of 31 December 2019 concerning that outbreak had spread worldwide and was sufficient to frame the necessary preventative responses, which to this date remain essentially the same (namely the routine precautions advised for any airborne respiratory diseases). Further, notwithstanding the mix of good and poor responses to the pandemic in different jurisdictions, and regardless of the response in Wuhan, global transmission was a sealed deal because of the stealth nature of COVID-19. Moreover, the scale of the pandemic in individual countries is largely a function of choices made independently by governments and populations around the world based on the same and sufficient information.