A comprehensive timeline of the coronavirus pandemic at 12 months, from China's first case to the present

Medical staff wearing protective gear move a patient infected with the coronavirus from an ambulance to a hospital on March 9, 2020 in Seoul, South Korea.

Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images

• The 1-year anniversary of the coronavirus pandemic has arrived: The first case was confirmed in Wuhan, China, in December 2019.
• Chinese government data suggests the virus was likely circulating by mid-November.
• In the year since, the virus has infected more than 64 million people and killed nearly 1.5 million.
• Here is a timeline of the most significant events and milestones of the pandemic.
• Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.

November 17, 2019: A person displayed the first detectable case of COVID-19 in China.

A delivery driver passes by a local butcher in Wuhan, China.

JD

The 55-year-old from Hubei Province was the first known case of COVID-19 in the world (though it didn't have that name yet), and one of hundreds identified by Chinese authorities in 2019, according to an investigation by the South China Morning Post.

However, Chinese medical experts didn't realize they were dealing with a new virus until late December. Many cases were likely backdated after health authorities took samples from suspected cases, according to the investigation.

December 31, 2019: Chinese Health officials informed the World Health Organization about a cluster of 41 patients with a mysterious pneumonia in the city of Wuhan.

The location of Wuhan in China's Hubei province.

Ruobing Su/Business Insider

Researchers think the coronavirus originated in bats, then may have jumped to an intermediary species that passed it to people.

January 1, 2020: Chinese authorities closed the Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market, to which many cases in that early cluster had links.

The Huanan Seafood Wholesale Market in Wuhan, China, was sealed off after being identified as the possible epicenter of the new coronavirus.

Photo by Noel Celis/AFP via Getty Images

Although the market was initially suspected to be the site where the outbreak first started, research has suggested that it simply boosted transmission via an early superspreader event.

Still, China has since banned the buying, selling, and transportation of wild animals in markets, restaurants, and online marketplaces. 

January 7: Chinese authorities identified the virus that caused the illness as a new type of coronavirus.

A glass model of the novel coronavirus, by artist Luke Jerram on March 18, 2020 in Bristol, United Kingdom. The model is about 1 million times larger than the actual virus.

Finnbarr Webster/Getty Images

Other viruses in the coronavirus family cause pneumonia, SARS, and some common colds.

January 11: China recorded its first coronavirus death. Chinese researchers also published the virus' genetic sequence.

Patients infected with the coronavirus rest at a temporary hospital converted from the Wuhan Sports Center in China's Hubei Province, February 17, 2020.

Xiao Yijiu/Xinhua News Agency via AP

The first person to die was a 61-year-old man who was a frequent customer at the Huanan market.

After researchers published the genetic sequence of the coronavirus, at least two companies quickly got to work creating vaccine candidates: Moderna and BioNTech.

January 13: The first coronavirus case outside China was reported in Thailand.

Thai public-health officers operate a health checkpoint with thermoscan at Suvarnabhumi International airport in Bangkok, Thailand, on February 18, 2020.

AP Photo/Gemunu Amarasinghe

A 61-year-old female tourist in Thailand was diagnosed on January 13. She'd recently spent time in Wuhan. Airports in Hong Kong, Singapore, Thailand, and South Korea began to screen passengers for fever.

January 20: The US reported its first case: a 35-year-old man in Snohomish County, Washington.

The man left Wuhan and landed at the Seattle-Tacoma International Airport on January 15. He reported to a clinic with pneumonia symptoms on January 19, then was diagnosed with the coronavirus a day later.

January 23: Chinese authorities placed the 11-million-person city of Wuhan under quarantine, and the rest of the Hubei province followed days later.

A man crosses an empty highway road on February 3, 2020, in Wuhan.

Getty Images

The Hubei lockdowns affected an estimated 60 million people, making China's action the largest quarantine in history at the time.

January 30: The WHO declared a public-health emergency of international concern.

A warehouse of medical materials in Wuhan on February 4, 2020.

Costfoto/Barcroft Media via Getty Images

The WHO's "global public-health emergency" determination has been around since 2005 and had been used five times before.

Those instances were the Ebola outbreak that started in 2013 in West Africa, another Ebola outbreak that's been ongoing in the Democratic Republic of Congo since 2018, the 2016 Zika epidemic, polio in war zones in 2014, and the swine-flu pandemic in 2009.

January 31: President Donald Trump banned foreign nationals from entering the US if they'd been in China within the prior two weeks.

A passenger receives a temperature check before boarding a flight in Tokyo, Japan, on January 21, 2020.

Tomohiro Ohsumi/Getty Images

February 2: The first coronavirus death outside of China was recorded in the Philippines.

A police officer checks the temperature of motorists at a checkpoint in Quezon City, Metro Manila, Philippines, on March 16, 2020.

Eloisa Lopez/Reuters

February 6: A person in California died from COVID-19, the first known American death.

Workers sanitize streets where homeless people are living in the Tenderloin district of San Francisco, California, March 20, 2020.

REUTERS/Shannon Stapleton

Santa Clara County officials found via autopsies that three people who died in their homes on February 6, February 17, and March 6 had the coronavirus.

Before those cases were identified, officials thought that a fatality reported in Washington state on February 29 was the earliest US death from the virus.

February 7: Wuhan doctor and whistleblower Li Wenliang died. At the onset of the outbreak, Li warned contacts from medical school about a new virus but was reprimanded by authorities.

Li Wenliang wears a respirator mask in Wuhan, China, on February 3, 2020.

LI WENLIANG/GAN EN FUND via REUTERS

Li was forced to sign a letter saying he made "false comments" after he alerted fellow doctors about the worrisome SARS-like disease. 

Li caught the coronavirus himself and died a little more than a month later. He left behind a son and pregnant wife. After his death, Chinese social media was filled with outpourings of grief and anger. Many posts featured a hashtag saying "We want freedom of speech."

February 9: The death toll in China surpassed that of the 2002-2003 SARS epidemic, which killed 774 people globally.

A nurse wearing protective gear walks outside a SARS clinic in Toronto, Canada, in 2003.

Reuters

Both SARS and the new coronavirus come from the same family of viruses, and they share 80% of their genetic codes.

SARS infected 8,098 people globally over eight months in 2002 and 2003. The total global COVID-19 case count surpassed that of SARS in just a month. By February 9, the new coronavirus' death toll in China exceeded the total number of people killed worldwide by SARS. 

February 11: The WHO announced that the disease caused by the new coronavirus would be called COVID-19.

A microscopic image of an isolate from the first US case of COVID-19. The spherical viral particles are colorized blue.

CDC

"We had to find a name that did not refer to a geographical location, an animal, an individual, or group of people," WHO director-general Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said, adding that the WHO wanted a name that was "pronounceable and related to the disease."

February 14: A Chinese tourist who tested positive for the virus died in France, becoming Europe's first death tied to the outbreak.

The Eiffel Tower is seen next to a board that reads: "In the context of the COVID-19 the Eiffel Tower closes today from 9pm for an indefinite period of time," March 13, 2020.

REUTERS/Gonzalo Fuentes/File Photo

February 19: Iran's coronavirus outbreak began to grow.

Firefighters disinfect a street in western Tehran, Iran, on March 13, 2020.

Associated Press/Vahid Salemi

Iran's schools and universities closed February 23, as did movie theaters and cultural centers. The country released 54,000 prisoners to prevent outbreaks in its prisons.

According to Reuters, 23 members of Iran's parliament — 8% — had gotten the coronavirus by early March. Fatemeh Rahbar, a conservative lawmaker from Tehran, died.

February 21: COVID-19 cases spiked in Italy.

Military officers wearing face masks stand outside Duomo cathedral in Milan, Italy, which was closed by authorities due to the coronavirus outbreak, on February 24, 2020.

REUTERS/Flavio Lo Scalzo

The country's coronavirus caseload skyrocketed at the end of February — more than 110,000 people were infected at the time. In total, more than 1.75 million people have gotten the coronavirus in Italy.

February 29-March 19: Nearly all US states declared a state of emergency.

Arkansas Gov. Asa Hutchinson speaks at a news conference at the state Capitol on March 12, 2020.

AP Photo/Andrew DeMillo

The announcements enabled states to activate emergency response plans and spend money to deploy additional personnel, buy equipment, and prepare stockpiles of supplies.

March 9: Italy placed all 60 million residents under lockdown.

People in Duomo Square after Italy went into lockdown to clamp down on the coronavirus, in Milan, Italy, March 10, 2020.

Flavio Lo Scalzo/Reuters

The country initially saw two regions in the north become hotspots, so locked down towns there on February 23. Then on March 9, the government expanded the restriction zone to encompass the entire nation.

March 11: The WHO declared the outbreak a pandemic.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, director-general of WHO, speaks on February 3, 2020.

Salvatore Di Nolfi/Keystone via Associated Press

The WHO made the designation based on the geographic spread of the disease, the severity of illnesses it causes, and its effects on society.

"Pandemic is not a word to use lightly or carelessly," Tedros said.

March 11: President Trump banned travel from 26 European countries.

President Trump talks with Deborah Flint, CEO of Los Angeles World Airports; United Airlines CEO Oscar Munoz; and Myron Gray, president of US operations for UPS, at the White House on February 9, 2017.

REUTERS/Kevin Lamarque

The ban went into effect on March 13. The UK and Ireland were later added. The ban did not prevent US citizens and some other groups from entering the country from Europe.

March 13: Trump declared a national emergency.

People watch a Donald Trump speech about the coronavirus pandemic from in a bar in Seattle, Washington, on March 11, 2020.

REUTERS/Jason Redmond

The declaration triggered the Stafford Act and allowed for more federal aid to states and municipalities.

Congress also passed a roughly $2 trillion stimulus package.

March 19: China reported no new locally spread infections for the first time since the pandemic began.

The Chinese national flag flies at half mast at a ceremony mourning those who died of the coronavirus in Wuhan, China, April 4, 2020.

China Daily via Reuters

March 23: New York City became the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak in the US.

A Department of Health employee trains New York Army National Guard soldiers at a drive-through coronavirus testing center in New Rochelle, New York, on March 14, 2020.

Sgt. Amouris Coss/U.S. Army National Guard/Handout/Reuters

New York state has recorded more than 722,000 cases in total, though many early cases in the spring weren't counted due to limited testing capabilities. More than 35,000 people there have died. 

March 26: The US became the world leader in confirmed cases with 82,404, surpassing China's total of 81,782 at the time.

 

March 31: More than one-third of humanity was under some form of lockdown.

The construction site of a new hospital for patients with coronavirus in Moscow, Russia.

Mikhail Japaridze\TASS via Getty Images

April 2: The world passed 1 million COVID-19 cases.

 

April 7: Roughly 95% of all Americans were under some form of lockdown as a result of state, county, or city orders.

California Gov. Gavin Newsom issued the US's first statewide stay-at-home order on March 19. Other states followed suit.

Associated Press

Governors in 42 states had issued stay-at-home orders by the end of March, affecting a total of 308 million people, or about 95% of the US population.

April 10: The global death toll surpassed 100,000.

A burial site for people who died from COVID-19 in Ukraine.

Stanislav Vedmid/AFP/Getty Images

April 14: President Trump ordered a halt on $400 million in US funding for the World Health Organization.

President Trump speaks during a news conference about the coronavirus at the White House in Washington DC, March 14, 2020.

Alex Brandon/AP

Trump blamed the WHO for "severely mismanaging and covering up the spread of the coronavirus."

April 24: Coronavirus cases began to spike in Brazil.

Dr. Jorge Hernandez stands near Maria Angela who has tested positive for COVID-19, as healthcare workers carry her to an ambulance boat on a stretcher, on Marajo island, Para state, Brazil, June 13, 2020.

REUTERS/Ueslei Marcelino

Brazil has reported more than 6.6 million cases — the world's third-highest total after the US and India.

May 11: Many countries, including Spain, Iran, Italy, New Zealand, and Thailand, began to ease lockdown restrictions.

A waiter stands by empty tables outside a restaurant at St Mark's Square after the Italian government imposed a lockdown.

Manuel Silvestri/Reuters

May 16: Coronavirus cases begin to surge in India.

A health worker (L) wearing a facemask checks the body temperature of devotees at the entrance of the Golden Temple in Amritsar, India, on March 18, 2020.

Narinder Nanu/AFP via Getty Images

India has reported more than 9.7 million coronavirus cases. More than 140,000 people there have died of COVID-19.

May 21: The number of global COVID-19 cases surpassed 5 million.

The sun sets behind a makeshift memorial for grocer Steve Shulman, who died from COVID-19, at Leschi Market in Seattle, Washington, March 19, 2020.

Brian Snyder/Reuters

June 28: Global cases surpassed 10 million, and global deaths surpassed 500,000.

Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases, removes his face mask before testifying at a Senate hearing, June 30, 2020 in Washington, DC.

Kevin Dietsch-Pool/Getty Images

By June 30 — six months after China confirmed the existence of this new virus — authorities had reported more than 10 million cases globally. About half of those infections were still active and ongoing, while the other half of people had recovered.

 

September 2: The WHO issued a strong recommendation for the use of steroids among seriously ill COVID-19 patients.

A pharmacist displays a bottle of dexamethasone at the Erasme Hospital in Brussels, Belgium, June 16, 2020.

Yves Herman/Reuters

The organization based its recommendation on the results of seven clinical trials, which found that seriously ill COVID-19 patients given steroids were significantly less likely to die.

September 22: US deaths from COVID-19 topped 200,000.

Family gather at the funeral of Fernando Aquirre, 69, who died of COVID-19.

Carolyn Cole/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images

In March, disease modelers predicted that COVID-19 would kill as many as 195,000 people in the US by the end of the year. The country reached that number three months earlier than expected. 

The disease has killed more Americans than every war US troops have died in since 1945 combined. The US's current death toll stands at more than 285,000. 

 

 

September 28: Global deaths surpassed 1 million.

Hospital staff members carry candles and oil lamps to show solidarity with people affected by the coronavirus, in Kolkata, India, April 5, 2020.

Rupak De Chowdhuri/Reuters

Combined, the US, Brazil, and India combined accounted for nearly half of that total.

The 1 million figure number is known to be an undercount, given the lack of widespread testing in many nations, as well as suspected concealment of cases and deaths in some countries like Russia and Brazil.

November 9: Pfizer and BioNTech announced that their vaccine candidate was more than 90% effective in preventing COVID-19 in Phase 3 trials.

Dr. Ugur Sahin and Dr. Özlem Türeci, the married cofounders of BioNTech.

Stefan F. So¤mmer via https://ift.tt/38zvzM2

The companies designed and tested the vaccine in just under 10 months. Prior to 2020, the quickest vaccine development timeline ever was for mumps, at over four years.

Less than two weeks later, on November 18 Pfizer, and BioNTech announced that a final analysis showed their vaccine candidate to be 95% effective. 

November 16: Moderna announced that its vaccine candidate was more than 94% effective.

Moderna; Samantha Lee/Business Insider

November 23: AstraZeneca announced that its vaccine was 70% effective on average. But its results soon came under scrutiny.

A man walks past a sign at an AstraZeneca site in Macclesfield, England.

Phil Noble/Reuters

It turned out that researchers had given some participants a half-dose for their first shot by mistake. Among the group that got a half-dose shot followed by a full dose — which consisted entirely of people under 55 — the vaccine was found to be 90% effective.

Among the rest of the trial participants, who got two full doses, the vaccine showed 60% effectiveness. The 70% figure came from averaging the two cohorts' results.

AstraZeneca CEO Pascal Soriot told Bloomberg that the company would likely launch a new global trial of the vaccine because of the skewed data. 

December 2: Britain authorized Pfizer and BioNtech's vaccine candidate.

Britain's Health Secretary Matt Hancock gives a thumbs up as he arrives at Downing Street in London after giving details on vaccine distribution efforts, Wednesday, December 2, 2020.

Kirsty Wigglesworth/AP

"This is a day to remember, frankly, in a year to forget," British Health Secretary Matt Hancock said, according to the Associated Press.

This story was originally published on March 19. It has been updated with new information.

Dave Mosher and Holly Secon contributed reporting.

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