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Coronavirus Timeline

Coronavirus Timeline

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Compiled by Jordan Lackey and Skye Seipp
This story was updated on Thursday, March 19 at 8:08 p.m. to add information from March 14-19. 
Dec. 30
– Chinese Dr. Li Wenliang issues a warning of new virus. Chinese police tell him to stop making false statements.
Dec. 31
– China alerts the World Health Organization to several cases of pneumonia with an unknown cause in Wuhan City, Hubei Provence of China.
Jan. 1
– Huanan South China Seafood Market is closed.
Jan. 5
– Wuhan Municipal Health Committee excludes SARS as possible cause for pneumonia cases.
Jan. 7
– France confirms the first case in Europe.
Jan. 11
– China reports first death.
Jan. 13
– WHO announces the first case outside of China in Thailand.
Jan. 15
– Second death reported in China
Jan. 16
– Japanese Ministry of Health confirms Japan’s first positive case.
Jan. 19
– First case reported in Korea.
Jan. 20
– WHO convenes an emergency committee under the International Health Regulations.
Jan. 21
– The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention confirms first case in the U.S. in Washington state.
Jan. 30
– WHO declares coronavirus a global health emergency.
Feb. 2
– First death outside of China is reported in the Philippines.
Feb. 7
– Chinese whistleblower Dr. Li Wenliang dies from the virus.
Feb. 11
– WHO officially names the virus COVID-19.
Feb. 14
– Egypt confirms Africa’s first case.
Feb. 15
First confirmed death in Europe occurs in France.
Feb. 24
– Afghanistan and Iraq confirm their first cases of infection
Feb. 29
– The U.S. confirmed its first death in Washington state.
March 1
– UN releases $15 million in aid to the U.S. for COVID-19 response.
March 6
– South by Southwest is cancelled.
March 8
– Texas Sen. Ted Cruz announces he’ll self-quarantine after interacting with a man who tested positive for COVID-19.
March 9
– A resident in Frisco tests positive for the virus.
March 10
– Coachella music festival is postponed.
March 11
– WHO declares COVID-19 a pandemic.
– Trump announces a one-month travel ban from most of Europe.
– NBA suspends its season after Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert tests positive for coronavirus.
– German Chancellor Angela Merkel said 70% of Germans could potentially contract the coronavirus.
– Houston Livestock Show and Rodeo shut down a week into the event.
March 12
-Utah Jazz guard Donovan Mitchell also tests positive for Coronavirus.
– Major League Soccer and the National Hockey League suspend their seasons and Major league Baseball pushes back its season opening.
– Rice University in Houston and Texas A&M announce they will move all their classes online or to remote formats for the remainder of the semester.
– Walt Disney World Resort in Orlando announces it will close throughout the remainder of the month.
– Dallas Mayor Eric Johnson issues a Proclamation Declaring a Local State of Disaster, corresponding with evidence presenting a community spread of COVID-19 within the city.
March 13
– Trump declares a state of national emergency.
– Stock market reacts positively to Trump’s announcement.
– Texas Gov. Greg Abbott declares state of disaster.
– Drive-through testing clinic opens in San Antonio.
– City of Dallas closes parks, libraries and cultural centers.
– The Catholic Diocese of Dallas cancels all public Masses.
– The U.S. House of Representatives passes the Families First Coronavirus Response Act.
March 14
–  Austin bans gatherings of 250 or more people.
March 15
– CDC recommends no gatherings of more than 50 people.
– Texas records the first death of a man in Matagorda County.
– Puerto Rico issues curfew, 9 p.m. to 5 a.m.
March 16
– The Dallas County Community College District extends spring break to March 29 and moves classes to online-only until at least the end of April.
– Dallas ISD shuts down indefinitely.
– The Harvesters baseball season is terminated after the NJCAA decides to cancel all sports for the remainder of the spring semester.
– Dallas County closes all dine-in restaurants, bars, gyms and entertainment venues.
– Saturday Night Live stops production until further notice.
March 17
– France institutes nationwide lockdown with exceptions for commuting to work, grocery shopping and picking up medicine.
– The European Union bans nonessential travel to 26 countries for 30 days.
March 18
– President Donald Trump signs Families First Coronavirus Response Act, which includes free COVID-19 testing and emergency paid leave.
– The first case of coronavirus is reported in Mesquite, bringing the total in Dallas County to 39.
March 19
– Gov. Greg Abbot bans gatherings of 10 or more people and closes all dine-in restaurants, bars, gyms and schools in Texas until April 3.
– China reports no new infections of COVID-19 for the first time.
-First coronavirus death recorded in Dallas, bringing the total to four in Texas.
March 20

– 1 in 3 GoFundMe campaigns in U.S. are now tied to coronavirus.
– Vice President Mike Pence’s press secretary, Katie Miller, announces that an office staff member has tested positive.
– Illinois governor J. B. Pritzker announces statewide stay-at-home order.
March 21

– First confirmed case in a federal prison reported in Brooklyn, and New York becomes the coronavirus hot spot in the United States.
– FDA approves new tests for the virus that take hours to give results instead of days.
– New Jersey governor Phil Murphy issues stay-at-home order.
– Australia closes Bondi Beach.
March 22

– Canada refuses to send athletes to Tokyo Olympics, and Japan’s prime minister Shinzo Abe announces the postponing of the Olympics is a possibility.
– Italy requests U.S. military support to get more medical supplies.
March 23

– Texas Attorney General’s office orders all clinics providing abortions to no longer perform the procedure, as it is not deemed “medically necessary.”
March 24

– New Zealand declares state of emergency and locks down.
– Ice rink in Spain used as a makeshift morgue.
– U.S. Bureau of Prisons announces two-week quarantine for incoming inmates.
March 25

– Alaska Airlines cuts flight schedule by 70 percent for the next two months.
– U.S. Army asks retirees with medical specialties to aid in coronavirus response.
– Filming for “The Batman” movie stops as a safety precaution.
March 26

– Los Angeles Mayor Eric Garcetti says California is the next New York, and New York is the next China.
– Travel rates to Hawaii drop by 87 percent.
– Venezuela announces its first coronavirus death.
March 27

– FDA authorizes new coronavirus tests that take 15 minutes instead of hours.
– Over 100,000 cases reported in the U.S.
March 28

– Center for Disease Control announces travel advisory for New York, New Jersey and Connecticut, urging citizens to refrain from non-essential domestic travel for two weeks.
– Trump tweets that quarantine is “not necessary”.
– U.N. donates 250,000 medical masks to New York City.
March 29

– Texas governor Greg Abbott orders people traveling to Texas from New York, New Jersey, Connecticut and Louisiana to quarantine for two weeks.
– Trump extends social distancing guidelines until April 30.
– New York Mayor Bill de Blasio confirms that a makeshift hospital consisting of 68 beds will open in Central Park.
– CBS News journalist for over 30 years, Maria Mercader, dies of coronavirus.
March 31

– Department of Homeland Security moves its National Operations Center as an employee tests positive.
– Los Angeles Convention Center is used to house coronavirus patients.
– Texas inmates sue for soaps and hand sanitizers, claiming their prison unit is not taking proper safety precautions.
April 1

– New York Police Department announces that over 1,200 officers have tested positive.
– Mississippi governor Tate Reeves announces shelter-in-place order.
– Over 200,000 cases reported in the U.S.
– Florida governor Ron DeSantis issues statewide stay-at-home order.
April 2

– Jeff Bezos donates $100 million to food banks across the U.S.
– President Trump tests negative for coronavirus.
– Ohio governor Mike DeWine extends stay-at-home order until May 1.
– 25,000 cases reported in New Jersey.
April 3

– Federal Emergency Management Agency obligates $1.1 billion in federal support to New York.
– Missouri governor Mike Parson issues stay-at-home order until April 24.
– New York’s makeshift hospital in Central Park at half capacity and is expected to fill within the next few days.
April 4

– At least 305,820 cases total in the U.S.
– Queen Elizabeth announces she’ll be delivering a televised speech regarding the coronavirus.
– Dubai locks down for 14 days to prevent the virus from spreading.
April 5

– Trump says he would wear a face mask if he “thought it was important.”
– Vice President Mike Pence announces a trial of the malaria prevention drug hydroxychloroquine in a hospital in Detroit.
– Italy’s death rate hits a record low with 525 deaths in 24 hours.
– 1 million rapid coronavirus tests distributed throughout Spain.
April 6

– All Los Angeles residents now able to apply to be tested for coronavirus, and the state of California suspends evictions and offers $0 bails for misdemeanors.
– Study finds that pregnant women infected with coronavirus don’t experience worse symptoms, compared to SARS or the flu.
April 7

– Roughly 20 percent of the NYPD workforce out sick.
– Trump says the U.S. will have 110,000 ventilators available to hospitals by June.
– Federal Bureau of Prisons announces that 241 prison inmates have tested positive for virus.
– U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement says it’s considering freeing vulnerable immigrants.
– Texas abortion ban has now been in effect for two weeks.
– Wuhan ends it’s 76-day lockdown.
April 8

– Chicago jail has one of the largest coronavirus outbreaks in the U.S. with over 400 cases.
– Miami orders all employees and customers of stores, restaurants and pharmacies to wear masks at all times.
– New York City has 5,603 new cases and 716 new deaths, with totals now at 80,204 cases and 4,260 deaths.
– Global infections over 1.5 million, with over 87,000 deaths.
April 9

– National Academy of Sciences announces that the virus will spread more easily due to the recent warm weather.
April 10

– Food and Drug Administration issues an Emergency Use Authorization for a blood purification system to treat people at least 18 years old with COVID-19 or respiratory failure admitted into an intensive care unit.
– FDA issues an EUA to decontaminate N95 and N95 compatible respirators to be reused by healthcare workers in hospitals.
– European finance ministers approve €500 billion, $543,610,000,000, to aid in the economic crisis.
– Sweden’s foreign minister Ann Lind says the country won’t lock down.
April 11

– Canadian lawmakers pass legislation subsidizing up to 75 percent of workers’ salaries to avoid continuing job losses.
– New Mexico governor Michelle Lujan Grisham announces a public health order banning public gatherings in houses of worship.
– U.S. now has more than 524,000 confirmed coronavirus cases and 20,389 deaths.
April 12

– Positive coronavirus cases in a Harris County, Texas jail rises from nine to 25.
– Wisconsin governor Tony Evers asks FEMA to start developing a care facility in the Alliant Energy Center in Madison to house patients.
– New Hampshire governor Chris Sununu receives roughly 7 million pieces of personal protective equipment to fight the pandemic, saying he would donate some of the equipment to neighboring states.
April 13

– California governor Gavin Newsom says the state will spend $42 million to aid in the protection of 59,000 foster children in the state, with $200 a month going to the 25,000 families most at risk of getting the virus.
– President Donald Trump announces he will attempt to delay the 2020 Census by more than 120 days for accuracy purposes.
– All patients entering Seattle’s three largest hospitals, Harborview Medical Center, University of Washington Medical Center-Northwest and University of Washington Medical Center-Montlake, will be tested for the virus.
April 14

– Rod Yates, owner of a Nebraska outlet mall, announces he will open the mall to the public this month.
– Florida governor Ron DeSantis announces that Florida’s Emergency Management Department will provide 1.2 million procedure masks, 1 million N95 masks, 500,000 gloves, 100,000 face shields, 60,000 containers of hand sanitizer, and 35,000 gowns to the state.
April 15

– Brian Allen of the Los Angeles Rams is the first active NFL player to test positive for the virus.
– Bureau of Prisons announces that two more federal prison inmates have died, bringing the total to 16.
– Maryland governor Larry Hogan requires all citizens wear face masks in businesses and on public transportation.
April 16

– Death count in coronavirus epicenter Wuhan, China increases by 50 percent, with total deaths in the city at 3,869.
– President of the Philippines Rodrigo Duterte threatens martial law to stop the spread of the virus.
– 4,000 healthcare workers in Australia are injected with a 100-year-old tuberculosis vaccine to see if it will help boost the immune system to fight the coronavirus.
– New York City announces it will provide roughly 20,000 undocumented residents with relief funds from the government’s $2 trillion stimulus package.
April 17

– China’s economy shrinks by almost 7 percent this year due to the virus, the largest decrease since the death of Mao Zedong in 1976.
April 18

– The CDC releases new guidelines on how communities should handle themselves in order to aid the White House Task Force’s plan to “get and keep America open.”
– Alaska, Idaho, Kentucky, New Mexico, North Dakota, Ohio, West Virginia and Wyoming have community protection teams working on contact tracing for the virus.
– Governors of New York, New Jersey and Connecticut allow marinas and boatyards to open for personal use.
April 19

– President of Brazil Jair Bolsonaro joins in a rally against quarantine restrictions.
– Administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Seema Verma announces that nursing homes are now required to inform patients and their families, as well as the Center for Disease Control, whenever they have a coronavirus case.
– Chile’s Public Health undersecretary Paula Daza announces 10,088 confirmed coronavirus cases; there have been 133 deaths so far in Chile.
– Roughly 12,000 coronavirus testing kits distributed in Washington by the state’s Department of Health are recalled due to possible contamination.
April 20

– South Carolina reopens retail stores while maintaining social distancing guidelines.
– Georgia governor Brian Kemp and Tennessee governor Bill Lee announce they plan to ease business restrictions in the near future.
– New York hits its lowest death toll in one day with 478 deaths.
 

Mayor Eric Johnson issues a proclamation declaring a local state of disaster

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