The COVID-19 pandemic reached the United States in early 2020, when the first confirmed case, a traveller returning from Wuhan, China, was identified in Washington state. The federal government declared a public health emergency at the end of January and a national emergency in March, and states introduced lockdowns, school closures and mask rules, which became politically contested. Hospitals in places such as New York City were overwhelmed in spring 2020. The federal government supported rapid vaccine development under Operation Warp Speed, and vaccinations began in December 2020. Waves of infection continued with new variants, and the death toll passed one million in 2022, making the United States one of the countries with the highest recorded number of deaths.
Before and after
- 2020COVID-19 lockdown in China
- 3 January 2020Assassination of Qasem Soleimani
- 8 January 20202020 Iranian attack on U.S. forces in Iraq
- 8 January 2020Ukraine International Airlines Flight 752
- 21 January 2020COVID-19 pandemic in the United States
- 21 January 2020COVID-19 pandemic in Taiwan
- 25 January 2020COVID-19 pandemic in Canada
- 26 January 2020Death of Kobe Bryant
- 27 January 2020COVID-19 pandemic in Germany
More in Wars, politics & history
- 15 August 1947India and Pakistan become independent
- from 25 June 1950 to 27 July 1953Korean War
- from 1 November 1955 to 30 April 1975Vietnam War
- from 16 May 1966 to 6 October 1976Cultural Revolution
- 20 February 2014Russo-Ukrainian war
- 31 January 2020Brexit
The era
This moment belongs to the Contemporary world (1945 CE to today), the world since 1945. You can also browse everything in the 21st century.