MARCH 2003. SARS Coronavirus virus breaks out in Hong Kong and spreads to Singapore. 8,098 confirmed cases.
APRIL 2009. H1N1 Virus emerges in Mexico. 60.8 million cases globally.
SEPTEMBER 2012. MERS Virus emerges in Saudi Arabia. 2,602 confirmed cases.
DECEMBER 12, 2019. A cluster of 41 patients in Wuhan, Hubei Providence, China begins to experience shortness of breath and fever (reported but NOT documented).
JANUARY 5, 2020. CDC’s National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases (NCIRD) activates a Center Level Response for novel pneumonia of unknown etiology.
JANUARY 17, 2020. CDC begins screening passengers on direct and connecting flights from Wuhan, China at San Francisco, California, New York City, New York, and Los Angeles, California and plans to expand screening to other major airports.
JANUARY 20, 2020. CDC reports the first U.S. laboratory-confirmed case of COVID-19 in the U.S. from samples taken on January 18 in Washington state.
MARCH 11, 2020. The World Health Organization declares COVID-19 a pandemic.
APRIL 10, 2020. The U.S. surpasses Italy as the global leader for reported deaths due to COVID-19 with 23,036 deaths.
MAY 28, 2020. United States coronavirus (COVID-19) death toll surpasses 100,000.
SEPTEMBER 22, 2020. United States coronavirus (COVID-19) death toll surpasses 200,000.
DECEMBER 14 2020. United States coronavirus (COVID-19) death toll surpasses 300,000.
JANUARY 18, 2021. United States COVID-19 death toll surpasses 400,000.
FEBRUARY 21, 2021. United States COVID-19 death toll surpasses 500,000.
MAY 7, 2021. Several scientists on Friday, May 7, 2021, welcomed the agency’s scrapping of the term “close contact,” which they criticized as vague and said did not necessarily capture the nuances of aerosol transmission.
MAY 2022. United States COVID-19 death toll reaches 1,000,000 (One Million).