Just five days before the Lunar New Year, the authorities in Beijing finally declared the coronavirus epidemic that originated in Wuhan to be a major public health emergency. Because Wuhan’s municipal government had initially withheld information and failed to control the virus effectively, about 5 million residents and temporary workers left the city for the Lunar New Year holidays before the city was officially closed off on Jan. 23. As a result, the virus spread rapidly throughout China and beyond, leading to the current high-profile international health emergency.