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Three months in: A timeline of how COVID-19 has unfolded in the US
GRACE HAUCK, KARL GELLES, VERONICA BRAVO AND MITCHELL THORSON | USA TODAY | 2:59 pm EDT April 29, 2020
It was three months ago that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced the first confirmed coronavirus case in the U.S.
In the weeks since, health officials have confirmed hundreds of thousands of COVID-19 cases across the nation and tens of thousands of deaths. Millions more Americans have lost their jobs, and tens of millions are living under stay-at-home orders.
As we continue to learn more about the virus and grapple with the affects of the pandemic, here’s a look back on how the outbreak began, and how it has unfolded in the U.S. so far.
Before arriving in the US, the virus spread through China and abroad
November: Various reports suggest that the first case arose in Wuhan, China, toward the end of 2019, though some reports point to cases in early December.
Dec. 30: Li Wenliang, an ophthalmologist at Wuhan Central Hospital, alerted physicians about the emergence of a SARS-like illness. He was later detained by police on charges of spreading rumors.
Dec. 31: The Wuhan Municipal Health Commission reported 27 cases of viral pneumonia.
Jan. 1: Wuhan officials closed down the Huanan seafood market, which is thought to be linked to the first group of cases.
Jan. 7: Chinese President Xi Jinping recognized the viral pneumonia internally during a meeting of China’s highest council.
Jan. 11: China reported its first death.
Jan. 13: Thailand confirmed the first known case of the coronavirus outside China.
Jan. 14: Top Chinese officials determined they likely were facing a pandemic, according to internal documents obtained by The Associated Press. In the following days, Wuhan hosted a mass banquet for tens of thousands of people.
Jan.17: Airport screenings
The CDC began implementing public health entry screening at San Francisco (SFO), New York (JFK) and Los Angeles (LAX) airports. The CDC would later add screening at two more airports Atlanta (ATL) and Chicago (ORD).
Jan. 21: First case confirmed in US
The CDC confirmed the first U.S. case of a new coronavirus that had killed six people so far in China. The Washington state man in his 30s returned from Wuhan a week earlier, on Jan. 15. Nancy Messonnier, director of the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, called the news “concerning,” particularly in light of reports that the virus has begun to spread from person to person.
Jan. 23: Wuhan locks down
Chinese authorities locked down at least three cities with a combined population of more than 18 million in an unprecedented effort to contain the virus during the busy Lunar New Year travel period.
Meanwhile, the World Health Organization declined to categorize the coronavirus as a global health emergency, saying there is no evidence of human-to-human infection outside China.
Jan. 24: First cases in Europe
French health officials confirmed the first three cases in Europe.
In China, the Lunar New Year holiday began. Public transportation halted for roughly 36 million people in 13 cities in central China, including Wuhan. Authorities in Wuhan said they were constructing a 1,000-bed hospital like one built in Beijing during a SARS outbreak, a similar respiratory virus.
President Donald Trump thanked China on Twitter for its efforts to contain the disease. “China has been working very hard to contain the Coronavirus. The United States greatly appreciates their efforts and transparency. It will all work out well. In particular, on behalf of the American People, I want to thank President Xi!” he said in a post.
Meanwhile, Sen. Rick Scott, R-Fla., urged the Trump administration to declare a public health emergency and sent a letter to the CDC requesting information about the agency’s plan to combat the virus. “We have to get serious about the threat of coronavirus coming from China,” Scott said in a press release.
Jan. 24: Americans told ‘risk is low’
Anthony Fauci, head of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, comments on the risk to Americans. “We don’t want the American public to be worried about this because their risk is low,” Fauci said. “On the other hand, we are taking this very seriously and are dealing very closely with Chinese authorities.”
Many health professionals argued that the flu poses a greater threat than the coronavirus.
Jan. 28: ‘Monitoring’ since December
Alex Azar, secretary of Health and Human Services and chairman of the coronavirus task force, told reporters during a press briefing that the U.S. has “been monitoring this virus and preparing a response since back in December.”
Jan. 29: 195 Americans return from China
The first group of passengers returned to the U.S. from China. They were expected to remain under observation for up to three days as they were screened, a CDC official said. The American passengers flew into California from Wuhan, with a stopover in Anchorage, Alaska, where they had also been screened.
Jan. 30: WHO declares global health emergency
The World Health Organization declared the coronavirus outbreak to be a “public health emergency of international concern.” Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of the WHO, praised China for its quick response to the crisis, saying the emergency declaration “is not a vote of no confidence in China.”
Medical staff in protective clothes are seen carrying a patient from an apartment suspected of having the virus in Wuhan, in Hubei province on January 30, 2020.
Medical staff in protective clothes are seen carrying a patient from an apartment suspected of having the virus in Wuhan, in Hubei province on January 30, 2020.
HECTOR RETAMAL, AFP VIA GETTY IMAGES
Jan. 30: US reports first case of person-to-person transmission
The CDC reported that the first case of person-to-person transmission in the U.S. is the husband of a Chicago woman who developed symptoms after visiting China. “We understand this may be concerning, but based on what we know now, our assessment remains that the immediate risk to the American public is low,” said Robert Redfield, director of the CDC.
Jan. 31: US public health emergency
The Trump administration declared the coronavirus outbreak to be a public health emergency in the United States, setting quarantines of Americans who have recently been to certain parts of China. CDC officials said it was the first quarantine order issued by the federal government in over 50 years.
Azar also announced a temporary suspension of entry into the United States of foreign nationals who had been in China in the previous 14 days. The ban was effective Feb. 2.
Meanwhile, officials began funneling all flights from China to the U.S. to one of seven airports that were designated ports of entry: New York, San Francisco, Seattle, Honolulu, Los Angeles, Chicago and Atlanta.
The outbreak had infected nearly 12,000 people, most of them in China, and killed more than 250 people, all in China.
Feb. 2: First death outside China
A 44-year-old Chinese man hospitalized in the Philippines became the first known fatality outside China from the new virus that has killed more than 300 people.
Feb. 6: First death in US
Autopsies on the bodies of two people who died at home on Feb. 6 and Feb. 17 showed they were positive for the virus, a California county announced April 21.
Previously, the first U.S. death had been thought to occur Feb. 29 outside Seattle. The autopsy findings revealed that the virus may have been spreading in U.S. communites earlier than previously known. The two people died during a time when very limited testing was available only through the CDC, and the agency’s testing criteria restricted testing to only individuals with a known travel history and who sought medical care for specific symptoms.
Feb. 7: Whistleblower dies
The Chinese doctor who was reprimanded by security police for warning fellow doctors about the initial coronavirus outbreak died of the illness.
In the U.S., Secretary of State Mike Pompeo announced that his department facilitated the transportation of nearly 17.8 tons of donated medical supplies to the China, including “masks, gowns, gauze, respirators and other vital materials.”
A USA TODAY analysis later finds that American companies sold more than $17.5 million worth of face masks, more than $13.6 million in surgical garments and more than $27.2 million in ventilators to China during the first two months of the year, far exceeding that of any other similar period in the past decade.
Feb. 11: COVID-19
The WHO announced a formal name for the coronavirus – COVID-19. Meanwhile, China reported its highest daily coronavirus death toll, the 103 additional fatalities pushing the total past 1,100. “With 99% of cases in China, this remains very much an emergency for that country, but one that holds a very grave threat for the rest of the world,” WHO’s Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said.
The CDC confirmed the 13th U.S. coronavirus case, and about 800 Americans evacuated from Wuhan remain under quarantine. At a rally in New Hampshire, Trump said that, “in theory” once the weather warms up, “the virus” will “miraculously” go away.
Feb. 12: First American dies
A 60-year-old U.S. citizen became what appears to be the first American fatality from the global virus outbreak. The American victim, who was not identified, died in China after being diagnosed with the coronavirus in Wuhan, according to the U.S. Embassy.
Feb. 21: Pandemic ‘likely’
Dr. Nancy Messonnier, director of the CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases, told reporters that U.S. health officials are preparing for the coronavirus to become a pandemic. “We’re not seeing community spread here in the United States, yet, but it’s very possible, even likely, that it may eventually happen,” she said.
Feb. 23: Italy locks down
Schools, businesses and restaurants were closed in a dozen northern Italian towns following reports of two deaths tied to an outbreak of the coronavirus in the region. The virus would begin to spread rapidly through Europe and Iran.
Feb. 26: CDC reports community spread; Pence to lead task force
The CDC confirmed an infection in California that would represent the first U.S. person to contract the virus despite not visiting a foreign country recently or coming in contact with an infected patient. This brings the number of coronavirus cases detected in the U.S. to 15, with 12 of them related to travel and the other two to direct contact with a patient.
Meanwhile, Trump announced that Vice President Mike Pence would lead the administration’s coronavirus response. “We’re very, very ready for this,” Trump said at a press conference. “The risk to the American people remains very low.”
Feb. 28: Flawed test kits
Messonnier told reporters that the CDC has taken steps to address problems with flawed test kits mailed to state and local labs. The agency has also expanded criteria for coronavirus testing.
Feb. 29: FDA begins to open up testing
In an effort to increase testing, the Food and Drug Administration announced it would be opening up its emergency authorization process to allow new testing technologies at hospitals and health care facilities nationwide.
U.S. Surgeon General Jerome Adams echoed CDC guidance encouraging Americans not to buy face masks needed by medical professionals. “They are NOT effective in preventing general public from catching #Coronavirus, but if healthcare providers can’t get them to care for sick patients, it puts them and our communities at risk,” he said on Twitter.
A man in Washington state died after contracting the coronavirus – what was initially thought to be the first death from the new disease in the U.S. Gov. Jay Inslee declared a state of emergency in Washington hours later, saying that the outbreak “could likely be a worldwide pandemic.”
March 3: U.S. surpasses 100 cases
March 6: ‘Anybody’ can get a test
While touring the CDC headquarters in Atlanta, Trump told reporters: “Anybody that wants a test can get a test. That’s what the bottom line is.”
March 11: Travel ban on Europe; WHO declares pandemic
Trump addressed the nation on the coronavirus outbreak and outlined strict travel restrictions on passengers arriving in the United States from hard-hit portions of Europe. Three days later, he added the United Kingdom and Ireland to the ban.
The WHO declared that the spread of COVID-19 had become a pandemic, which the organization has defined as “the worldwide spread of a new disease.” Infections outside China have increased 13-fold in two weeks, WHO’s director general said. In that same time, the number of countries hit by the outbreak has tripled.
March 12: US testing rollout ‘a failing’
Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said the testing logjam constitutes a “failing” of the nation’s health care system. “The idea of anybody getting (a coronavirus test) easily, the way people in other countries are doing it – we’re not set up for that,” Fauci told Congress. “That is a failing.”
March 13: Trump declares national emergency
Trump declared the coronavirus pandemic to be a national emergency. Trump said the move would free up nearly $50 billion in additional disaster funding and would allow HHS to waive regulations and laws to deliver coronavirus testing quicker.
March 16: 15 days to slow the spread
Trump issued guidelines that called for Americans to avoid social gatherings of more than 10 people for the next 15 days and to limit discretionary travel, among other guidelines. Trump said the country may be dealing with a number of restrictions through July or August as a result of the virus. He acknowledged the economy may be heading into a recession.
