On 12 January, the World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed that a novel coronavirus was the cause of a respiratory illness in a cluster of people in Wuhan City, Hubei Province, China, who had initially come to the attention of the WHO on 31 December 2019. This cluster was initially linked to the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market in Wuhan City. However, some of those first cases with laboratory confirmed results had no link to the market, and the source of the epidemic is unknown.[2][3]