A lot can change in a year. While COVID-19 was spreading in Wuhan, China in late 2019, the first diagnosis of the virus in the U.S. was reported in Washington on Jan. 20, 2020, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Since then, “COVID-19” has repeatedly been featured in the headlines of major news outlets daily, and not without reason. Nearly a year after the first case, the U.S. has surpassed 20 million cases, resulting in over 350,000 deaths. Here’s a brief look at just some of the appearances COVID-19 has made in U.S. news over the course of the past year.
Jan. 20-22: The first confirmed case
Jan. 20 marks the first laboratory confirmation of a case of COVID-19 in the U.S., according to the CDC. It was reported to the CDC two days later on Jan. 22.
Jan. 30 | A global public health crisis
The World Health Organization (WHO) declared a “Public Health Emergency of International Concern” due to the continuing spread of COVID-19.
March 1: 88 new cases reported by day in the U.S.
March | Lockdowns across the country
Many regions across the country issued stay-out-home orders or lockdowns with differing levels of restrictions during the month of March.
March 13 | A national emergency
President Trump declared the pandemic to be a national emergency following the “Stafford Act.”
March 26 | U.S. has the highest number of cases in the world
The U.S. surpassed China to assume the lead in the highest number of COVID-19 cases. According to data from Johns Hopkins (via NPR), the U.S. reported over 83,000 cases, while China reported over 81,000 at this point.
April 1: 26,930 new cases reported by day in the U.S.
April 3 | Masks in the making
President Trump stated that the CDC was recommending the use of cloth face masks by the general public. Soon after, many Americans began making their own DIY masks out of fabric and other household items, like bandanas or even socks.
April 28 | Over a million cases
The U.S. passed one million total diagnosed cases of COVID-19. According to NPR, at the same point in time, Spain had approximately 230,000 cases, Italy had around 200,000 and China had less than 84,000.
May 1: 33,970 new cases reported by day in the U.S.
May 28 | Passing 100,000 deaths
The CDC reported that the U.S. death toll from COVID-19 had surpassed 100,000.
June 1: 21,897 new cases reported by day in the U.S.
June | Protests during a pandemic
Beginning late May, but continuing into June, protests sprung up across the country for many reasons, but largely in response to police brutality in the U.S. after the murder of George Floyd, an African-American man, by former police officer Derek Chauvin.
This caused some concern associated with rising cases and mass gatherings, and the WHO Director-General stated that the organization “fully supports equality and the global movement against racism. We reject discrimination of all kinds,” and encouraged anyone protesting to do so “safely.”
July 1: 49,975 new cases reported by day in the U.S.
July 7 | Withdrawal from WHO
In line with his previous statements, the Associated Press (AP) reported on July 7 that President Trump notified the United Nations of the U.S.’s withdrawal from WHO, which would take effect on July 6, 2021.
Aug. 1: 56,828 new cases reported by day in the U.S.
August | In-person schooling resumes
Beginning largely in August, many schools began reopening their doors for in-person education, an occurrence that was largely halted during the previous academic year due to the virus. Not long after resuming in-person classes, some schools began reporting clusters of cases.
Later that month, multiple colleges and universities in particular reported hundreds of COVID-19 cases despite guidelines put in place for reopenings. Some institutions punished their students “for violating campus rules.”
Sept. 1: 44,049 new cases reported by day in the U.S.
September | Outbreaks on college campuses
Colleges continued to try to control increasing COVID-19 cases across the country into September. According to an article published by USA Today on Sept. 11, 19 of the 25 hottest outbreaks in the country were in “communities heavy with college students.”
Sept. 3 | Reports of falling unemployment rate
On Sept. 3, AP reported a drop from a 10.2% to a 8.4% unemployment rate in the U.S., and that of the 22 million jobs lost due to the pandemic, around half had been recovered. Despite this, an increasing amount of citizens expressed that their jobs were “gone for good.”
Oct. 1: 46,418 new cases reported by day in the U.S.
Oct. 2 | COVID-19 in the White House
President Trump announced on Twitter that he and first lady Melania Trump had tested positive for COVID-19. It was reported that he had been experiencing mild symptoms, such as a low-grade fever and fatigue, according to NBC, and he later went to the hospital for medical care.
Nov. 1: 74,224 new cases reported by day in the U.S.
Nov. 11 | Texas passes one million cases
Texas became the first state in the U.S. to pass one million cases of COVID-19, according to AP.
Late 2020 | Warnings surrounding holiday gatherings
With Thanksgiving around the corner and the holiday season beginning, experts and news outlets shared predictions and words of warning around unnecessary travel and mass gatherings. The CDC shared tips (which have been updated) that included recommendations for those who wanted to celebrate the holidays. Some schools moved classes online in an attempt to limit travel back and forth from campus during this time.
Dec. 1: 184,286 new cases reported by day in the U.S.
Dec. 11-18 | The first vaccines
A vaccine developed by Pfizer was the first vaccine to be granted an emergency use authorization in the U.S. A week later, the Moderna vaccine was also granted this authorization. On Dec. 14, the first doses of the Pfizer vaccine were administered in the U.S.
Dec. 23 | California passes two million cases
After surpassing cases, reported by Texas, California was the first state to report over two million cases of COVID-19, according to Johns Hopkins (via CBS).
Dec. 31: 231,045 new cases reported by day in the U.S.
Jan. 1*: 147,159 new cases reported by day in the U.S.
Jan. 2*: 291,384 new cases reported by day in the U.S.
Jan. 2021 | The vaccines offering hope
Almost a year after the first confirmed case of COVID-19 in the U.S., vaccinations are providing some hope to combat the virus. After the rollout of vaccines began in Dec. 2020 in the U.S., the new year was punctuated by the release of numerous schedules and outlines, attempting to detail when the vaccine might be available to citizens of different demographics in different states.
With the vaccines still in limited supply and having only been authorized for emergency use for just over a month, cases in the U.S. continue to climb. The words “highest ever” and “record-breaking” continue to hold their place in headlines — but moving into the second year of managing COVID-19, there’s hope that these phrases will move further from negative to positive associations as we learn more about this virus and begin to see the effects of the vaccination efforts.
Some dates may be reported differently by news outlets following different information or data. Dates listed in this article are derived from the noted and/or linked referenced sources.
All new reported case data numbers reference this article by The New York Times. Dates marked with an * indicate a “reporting anomaly,” or a date in which numbers may be impacted by certain circumstances, such as New Year’s Day. For more information regarding the data, visit the link above.
