COVID-19 Timeline
This is a timeline of local and federal government mandates here in the United States. We thought using this list of events provided by CNN would serve as a useful tool for better understanding where users' minds were at certain points of the pandemic. Furthermore, we could see how this state of mind could have affected the data we were observing.
- March 11, 2020 - WHO declares the novel coronavirus outbreak to be a pandemic. WHO says the outbreak is the first pandemic caused by a coronavirus. In an Oval Office address, Trump announces that he is restricting travel from Europe to the United States for 30 days in an attempt to slow the spread of coronavirus. The ban, which applies to the 26 countries in the Schengen Area, applies only to foreign nationals and not American citizens and permanent residents who'd be screened before entering the United States.
- March 19, 2020 - California Issues Statewide Stay-at-Home Order: California becomes the first state to issue a stay-at-home order, mandating all residents to stay at home except to go to an essential job or shop for essential needs. The order also instructs health care systems to prioritize services to those who are the sickest.
- March 25, 2020 - The White House and Senate leaders reach an agreement on a $2 trillion stimulus deal to offset the economic damage of coronavirus, producing one of the most expensive and far-reaching measures in the history of Congress.
- April 3, 2020 - Trump says his administration is now recommending Americans wear "non-medical cloth" face coverings, a reversal of previous guidance that suggested masks were unnecessary for people who weren't sick.
- April 8, 2020 - Troubles With the COVID-19 Cocktail “What do you have to lose?” Trump asks when touting the malaria drug hydroxychloroquine or the related chloroquine as possible treatments for COVID-19. With a common antibiotic, azithromycin, the drug cocktail becomes an early candidate to prevent hospitalization or death. But Trump’s promotion of the combination, despite known heart risks for some patients, prompts the American Heart Association, the American College of Cardiology, and the Heart Rhythm Society to warn in a joint guidance that the drugs are not for everyone.
- April 15, 2020 - Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today announced he will issue an Executive Order requiring all people in New York to wear a mask or a face covering when out in public and in situations where social distancing cannot be maintained, such as on public transportation. The Executive Order will go into effect on Friday, April 17th.
- May 11, 2020 - Trump and his administration announce that the federal government is sending $11 billion to states to expand coronavirus testing capabilities. The relief package signed on April 24 includes $25 billion for testing, with $11 billion for states, localities, territories, and tribes.
- August 27, 2020 - The CDC notifies public health officials around the US to prepare to distribute a potential coronavirus vaccine as soon as late October. In the documents, posted by The New York Times, the CDC provides planning scenarios to help states prepare and advises on who should get vaccinated first -- healthcare professionals, essential workers, national security "populations" and long-term care facility residents and staff.
- December 10, 2020 - Vaccine advisers to the FDA vote to recommend the agency grant emergency use authorization to Pfizer and BioNTech's coronavirus vaccine
- December 18, 2020 - The FDA authorizes a second coronavirus vaccine made by Moderna for emergency use. "The emergency use authorization allows the vaccine to be distributed in the U.S. for use in individuals 18 years and older," the FDA said in a tweet.
- February 27, 2021 - The FDA grants emergency use authorization to Johnson & Johnson's Covid-19 vaccine, the first single dose Covid-19 vaccine available in the US.
- August 23, 2021 - The US FDA grants full approval to the Pfizer/BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine for people age 16 and older, making it the first coronavirus vaccine approved by the FDA.
- November 2, 2021 - Walensky says she is endorsing a recommendation to vaccinate children ages 5-11 against Covid-19, clearing the way for immediate vaccination of the youngest age group yet in the US.
- November 19, 2021 - The FDA authorizes boosters of the Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna Covid-19 vaccines for all adults. The same day, the CDC also endorses boosters for all adults.
- December 27, 2021 - The CDC shortens the recommended times that people should isolate when they've tested positive for Covid-19 from 10 days to five days if they don't have symptoms -- and if they wear a mask around others for at least five more days. The CDC also shortens the recommended time for people to quarantine if they are exposed to the virus to a similar five days if they are vaccinated.