Background: As we live in an interconnected globalized world, people and the diseases they carry can be easily transmitted to any place in a matter of hours. SARS-CoV-2 began like all new viruses with an ordinary moment when a cluster of patients admitted to a hospital with pneumonia turned out to have a new strain of coronavirus. The virus's high transmissibility made the epidemic in China turn into a global pandemic with an ongoing daily reporting of new cases and deaths. However, as fast as viruses spread, the detection of pandemics and taking early measures has become much easier due to the advancement of science in today's world. The early responses and measures adopted by China, such as early reporting and situation monitoring, large-scale surveillance, and preparation of medical facilities and supplies, were all successful in reducing the epidemic in China generally and in the epicenter Wuhan specifically. The purpose of this review is to focus on the effectiveness of the measures taken by the Chinese government to stop COVID-19 spreading by comparing the country's response to SARS and CO-VID-19 outbreaks, which will provide an example for the communities, health managers, and leaders of countries to follow on how to prepare, detect, and respond to potential outbreaks. Method: For this article, epidemic preparedness and management strategies under comparison were derived from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and World Health Organization (WHO) frameworks and guidelines. Other data related to COVID-19 and reported cases were taken from more than 25 official public health organization reports and relevant articles using various databases (e.g., Google Scholar, PubMed and Science Direct). Results: Working on developing resilient systems against infectious diseases should be one of the top priorities of any country. China embraced resilience in its battle against CO-VID-19 and proved its capability to cope with the outbreak crisis. Despite succeeding in altering the course of the outbreak, healthcare experts warned about possible epidemic recurrence and stressed the need for caution as the pandemic is still ongoing and most of the infected cases are presenting with only mild symptoms.

Background: The discovery of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) during a pneumonia outbreak in Wuhan city (China) has raised a global public health concern, as the city consists of around 11 million people and is considered a major transport and logistics hub. This deadly virus caused the world to be in high alert as the death toll and the number of confirmed cases is continuously rising since the first case was reported. The Chinese government warned that the transmission ability of the virus is increasing, and international efforts are needed to overcome this outbreak. The purpose of this review is to focus on the published articles about the new virus, which will give an insight into the current state of research and data available, as well as recommending future studies. Methods: For this narrative review, more than 20 relevant scientific articles and reports were considered from various databases (e.g., Google Scholar, PubMed and Science Direct) using keywords such as Coronavirus Outbreak, COVID-19, Emerging Epidemics, Emerging Infections, and Novel Coronavirus. Results: The results from this review show that the situation is rapidly evolving, as human-to-human transmission is occurring, and the number of new cases and mortalities is increasing by the day and on a global level. There is still ambiguity about mutation risks and how the virus spreads as the source was not yet identified. Major gaps in knowledge about the origin of the virus, epidemiology and transmission impose a great challenge, which emphasizes the need for further studies in the future.