Jan. 21, 2020 until Jan. 21, 2021: A Year of Coronavirus Spread in US

A man in his 30s who has just returned to Washington state from a trip to the region of Wuhan tests positive for the new coronavirus. He arrived in the U.S. two days before passenger screening was initiated.

The U.S. extends coronavirus screening from five to 20 airports that handle almost all incoming passengers from China.

The U.S Food and Drug Administration issues an emergency use authorization for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s PCR (polymerase chain reaction) diagnostic test that detects coronavirus infection. So far, the test has been used only at CDC laboratories. The authorization allows any CDC-qualified lab across the country to use the test to identify new coronavirus cases.

San Francisco Mayor London Breed declares a state of emergency, even though no coronavirus cases have been confirmed in the city. He says this is a precaution as the order will expedite access to resources and personnel necessary to respond to a potential coronavirus outbreak in the city.

The CDC announced that a patient in California who has contracted the novel coronavirus has no travel history or exposure to another infected person. The patient from California is the first known case of community spread in the U.S.

A man in his 50s with preexisting conditions from Washington state is the first person in the U.S. to die from COVID-19. There is no evidence at the time that he was in close contact with an infected person.

Washington declares a state of emergency.

President Donald Trump declares a national emergency to “unleash the full power of the federal government” in dealing with the coronavirus pandemic as cases across the U.S. increase.

West Virginia is the last state to report a case of the novel coronavirus.

Puerto Rico was the first U.S. territory to issue a mandatory stay-at-home order on March 15. California followed suit four days later, becoming the first state to issue such an order, according to the CDC.

The U.S. Department of State issues the highest level advisory against all international travel. Americans are warned against traveling anywhere abroad due to the fast spread of the novel coronavirus.

With cases of confirmed coronavirus cases Increasing from 183 to 5,151 in six days, New York City becomes the hardest hit by the pandemic in the U.S. There are a total of 8,377 reported cases in the entire state.

The U.S. military expands its coronavirus response effort. The National Guard is now active across the country. They are to assist state response efforts to mitigate and control the coronavirus pandemic.

The U.S. confirms at least 81,321 COVID-19 cases by March 26 — more cases than China, Italy, or any other country. More than 1,000 people have died from COVID-19-related causes by that date.

The president signs the largest stimulus package in U.S. history — a $2 trillion bill intended to rescue the coronavirus-battered economy. The package includes massive injection of loans, tax breaks, and direct payments to small and big businesses as well as individuals.

Scientists say that the coronavirus pandemic is estimated to kill between 100,000 and 240,000 people in the U.S., warning the death toll can be much higher if people don’t follow guidelines for public health measures like social distancing.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reports on evidence of COVID-19 transmission from pre-symptomatic people. This would make containment much more difficult. About 12.6% of transmissions in Hubei Province, China, may have occurred before the infected person began showing symptoms. It can take up to 14 days for an infected person to show symptoms — if at all.

A record 6.6 million people filed new unemployment claims in the week ending on March 28, more than double the number of claims filed the previous week. Overall, more than 10 million Americans applied for unemployment benefits in March.

About nine in 10 Americans were ordered to stop going to bars and restaurants or anywhere outside if it is not for essential purposes. Americans are also told to stay away from friends and family and people in general, as per stay-at-home orders that have been issued in nearly all 50 states.

Gov. Phil Murphy signs an executive order, which also requires people to wear cloth face coverings unless they are under 2 years old or have a medical condition that can make breathing with a mask difficult.

New York state cumulative caseload is higher than any single country outside the U.S., at nearly 160,000. (U.S.’s cumulative caseload is 462,000 cases). Spain has reported 153,000 cases by April 10, and Italy 143,000. China, where the novel coronavirus was first detected, has reported 82,000 cases by that date.

Groups of people across the country, mostly conservatives, protest government-imposed restrictions on movement and businesses aimed to curb the spread of the virus. Participants cite “an overreaction of fear and an overreach of government power” as the reason.

Trump signs an executive order suspending immigration to the U.S. for 60 days. People who already have green cards or health care professionals seeking an immigrant visa to help fight COVID-19 in the U.S. are exempt.

The U.S. reaches another bleak coronavirus milestone — 100,000 people have died from COVID-19 in the fourth month since the novel coronavirus was first confirmed in the country.

A new model, cited by the White House, projects that coronavirus deaths are expected to decline before they sharply rise in September, reaching up to 290,000 fatalities by Oct. 1.

At least 26 states, mostly in the South and West, report a rise in the average daily coronavirus cases compared to two weeks prior, when states began easing lockdown restrictions.

The U.S. reaches a global record for new daily coronavirus cases, reporting more than 55,000 new COVID-19 cases on July 2 in a day. The U.S. reports 55,274 confirmed cases on July 2, exceeding the previous single-day record of 54,771, set by Brazil on June 19.

Trump wears a mask during a visit to a military hospital, marking the first time the president is seen wearing a face covering in public. Previously, Trump has declined to wear a mask at news conferences, rallies, and other public events.

The first Phase 3 clinical trial of a coronavirus vaccine developed by biotechnology company Moderna and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases begins in the United States. The trial is to be conducted at nearly 100 research sites and aims to enroll approximately 30,000 adults who do not have COVID-19.

The U.S. announces it will no longer screen passengers arriving from other countries for COVID-19 and that international flights will no longer be required to fly into one of the 13 airports where enhanced coronavirus screening measures are carried out.

Trump tweets that he and first lady Melania Trump have tested positive for coronavirus and are now self-isolating. The president is 74, which puts him in a high-risk group.

COVID-19 has now killed more than a quarter of a million people in the U.S. That is about the entire population of Buffalo, New York.

The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine against COVID-19, the first federally approved coronavirus vaccine in the U.S., is administered to health care workers and staff at nursing homes nationwide.

The U.S. death toll from the coronavirus tops 300,000 — the day the country begins dispensing COVID-19 shots in a campaign to stop the pandemic.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration confirms the effectiveness and safety of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine, clearing a path to authorization. The potential second COVID-19 vaccine is found to be 95% effective.

A week after the first doses of the Pfizer-BioNTech coronavirus vaccine were administered in the US, a new batch of vaccines, made by Moderna, fanned out across the country. Moderna’s vaccine rollout is four times larger than Pfizer’s.

The first U.S. case of the more contagious COVID-19 variant first reported in the U.K. has been reported in Colorado, a week after British scientists identified the variant.

The federal government does not meet its goal to administer 20 million coronavirus vaccines by year end due to logistical problems and underfunded health departments. By Dec. 31, 2.8 million people had received the first of two doses needed to provide immunity to the virus, according to the CDC.

Source: Sharon Chischilly / Getty Images News via Getty Images

Jan 13: US passed 23 million cases

Just four days after passing 22 million cases, the U.S. tops 23 million confirmed COVID-19 cases. Almost 384,000 people in the country have died, accounting for about 19% of the nearly 2 million COVID-19 deaths reported around the world.