The fifth anniversary of the first known death from Covid-19 passed quietly in China on Saturday, with no official commemorations or public remembrances in a country where the pandemic remains a taboo topic.
On January 11, 2020, health officials in Wuhan, central China, announced that a 61-year-old man had died from complications linked to a previously unknown virus, later identified as SARS-CoV-2, the cause of Covid-19. This announcement came after weeks of reports about mysterious infections in the city.
The pandemic that followed has claimed over seven million lives worldwide, reshaping global life and profoundly affecting China itself. Yet, as the anniversary approached, there were no official memorials or mentions in China’s state-controlled media, reflecting the government’s reluctance to revisit its handling of the pandemic.
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China’s ruling Communist Party tightly controlled public discourse throughout its strict zero-Covid policy, which was abruptly abandoned at the end of 2022. Since then, reflections on the policy or the pandemic’s impact have been sparse.
On social media, public recognition of the date was also limited. A few videos on Douyin, China’s version of TikTok, noted the anniversary but largely reiterated official narratives. On Weibo, posts on the former account of Li Wenliang — the Wuhan doctor who was reprimanded for warning about the virus — included comments such as, “Dr. Li, another year has gone by,” but avoided directly addressing the significance of the date.
In Hong Kong, where Beijing tightened its grip following the 2020 national security law, there was similarly little acknowledgment of the milestone.
Little is known about the first recorded Covid-19 casualty, except that he frequently visited a seafood market in Wuhan believed to have been a key site in the virus’s early spread. Within days of his death, the disease had been detected in other countries, marking the failure of early containment efforts.
China has faced international criticism for its handling of the initial outbreak, with allegations of cover-ups and a lack of transparency about the virus’s origins. Beijing, however, has consistently rejected these accusations, asserting that it acted swiftly and with full transparency.
In 2023, China declared a “decisive victory” over Covid-19, describing its response as a “miracle in human history.” Official figures report nearly 100 million Covid-19 cases and 122,000 deaths, but many experts believe the actual toll is far higher. Unlike other nations, China has not established major memorials to honor those who lost their lives during the pandemic.
As the world continues to grapple with the pandemic’s far-reaching impacts, the muted anniversary underscores China’s ongoing reluctance to engage in public discourse about its role in one of modern history’s most significant global crises.
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