January 26: A patient in Pennsylvania contracts the virus.
January 31: Travel restrictions prohibit non-U.S. citizens, other than the immediate family of U.S. citizens and permanent residents who had traveled to China within the previous two weeks, from entering the United States. Americans returning from China are allowed into the country, but they face screening at select ports of entry and are required to undertake 14 days of self-screening. Those returning from Hubei province, the center of the outbreak, are subject to up to 14 days of mandatory quarantine.
Note: This was not a total travel ban between the U.S. and China.
The New York Times, April 4, 2020, 430,000 People Have Traveled From China to U.S. Since Coronavirus Surfaced, by Steve Eder, Henry Fountain, Michael H. Keller, Muyi Xiao, and Alexandra Stevenson,
There were 1,300 direct flights to 17 cities before President Trump's travel restrictions. Since then, nearly 40,000 Americans and other authorized travelers have made the trip, some this past week and many with spotty screening.
In interviews, multiple travelers who arrived after the screening was expanded said they received only passing scrutiny, with minimal follow-up.
"I was surprised at how lax the whole process was," said Andrew Wu, 31, who landed at Los Angeles International Airport on a flight from Beijing on March 10. "The guy I spoke to read down a list of questions, and he didn't seem interested in checking out anything."
Mr. Wu, who has had no symptoms and has not become ill, said he was told to stay inside for 14 days when he landed in Los Angeles. He said he received two reminder messages the next day by email and text, but no further follow-up.
Another traveler, Chandler Jurinka, said his experience on Feb. 29 had an even more haphazard feel. He flew from Beijing to Seattle, with stops in Tokyo and Vancouver.
At the Seattle-Tacoma airport, he said, an immigration officer went through his documents and asked questions unrelated to the virus about his job and life in China. At no point did anyone take his temperature, he said.
"He hands me my passport and forms and says, 'Oh, by the way, you haven't been to Wuhan, have you?'" Mr. Jurinka said. "And then he says, 'You don't have a fever, right?'"
Like others, he left the airport with a card that recommended two weeks of self-quarantine and a promise that someone would call to check up on him. He said he never got a call.
March 13: After labeled a global pandemic by the World Health Organization, Trump declares the virus a national emergency. Social-distancing guidelines for the country are outlined. On the same day, more than a little late, travel restrictions from 26 European countries are applied.
ABC News, Kelly McCarthy, April 9, 2020, New York coronavirus outbreak originated in Europe, new study finds.
COVID-19
cases in New York City were found as early as February.
A new study has found evidence that the
first COVID-19 cases in New York City originated in Europe and
occurred as early as February. Researchers found that COVID-19 in New York City
"predominately arose through untracked transmission between the United
States and Europe, with limited evidence supporting direct introductions from
China, where the virus originated, or other locations in Asia".
April 21: Two thousand, eight hundred and four (2804) deaths are recorded in one day in the United States, more than the total number of deaths in Turkey, and 50 percent of the total number of deaths in Germany to that date.
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