Hi guys, today we are going to be taking a look at one of the most historic pandemics of recent times, Covid-19. With most Covid restrictions and outbreaks diminishing, I thought it would be a great idea to take a stride down memory lane, and see how Covid-19 has affected us in the past 3 years.
In December 2019, patients in Wuhan, China succumbed to a pneumonia-like illness. Later that month, the WHO(World Health Organization) office in China was informed of many people getting this pneumonia-like illness from an unknown cause. All cases are tied to the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market.
A month later, in early January 2020, this same seafood market was closed because of health and safety worries. China then informs the WHO that they have diagnosed over 40 cases of this pneumonia of unknown cause. Two days later, NCIRD(CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases) initiates an investigation upon this unknown caused illness. The WHO begins referring to this newfound disease as “2019 Novel Coronavirus” or “2019-nCoV”. Later that month, both the Japanese and Taiwanese Ministries of public health diagnosed the first laboratory confirmed cases of the SARS-CoV-2 virus outside of China. A couple days later, CDC(Centers for Disease Control and Prevention) started screening passengers on flights from Wuhan to major U.S airports. Soon after, the first confirmed case of the virus was confirmed in the U.S on January 20th, in Washington.
On January 23rd, Wuhan, China was placed under lockdown. On January 29, 2020, the president of China Xi Jinping meets with the WHO Director in Beijing. They come to an agreement to send of international experts to China to investigate the outbreak. On January 30th, the U.S reported its first confirmed case of transmitted person to person coronavirus. That day, the WHO classes this virus as a Public Health Emergency of International Concern. The following days are important landmarks, because on the 2nd of February, the first death from coronavirus was reported outside of China, in the Philippines. On the 6th of February, the first Covid-19 death was confirmed in the United States, in California but the cause is not confirmed until April 21st. On February 11th, the WHO named the coronavirus the name we all know, Covid-19. Later that week, a Chinese tourist died in France, becoming the first person to die from Covid in Europe. On the same day, someone in Egypt tested positive for Covid-19, becoming the first case in Africa.
On March 11th, 2020 the WHO officially declares the Covid-19 outbreak to be a pandemic. Trump announces that he is restricting all tourists from Europe coming to the United States. The former president Donald Trump then declares a national emergency, and uses 50 billion dollars to fight the virus. A week or so later, the Olympic committee agreed to postpone the Olympics until at least 2021.
On the 28th of April, the United States passed 1 million confirmed cases of the virus. According to John Hopkins University, more than 100 000 people had died in the U.S from Covid-19. Less than three months after having passed the 1 million mark, the U.S announced that 2 million people had been confirmed to have Covid-19, on June 11th, 2020. This is around the time that Covid-19 reached its peak. Tune in next time to read what happens next in part 2!