In December of 2019, a novel coronavirus hit the Wuhan Province of China. On December 31st, the WHO reported a mysterious pneumonia affecting dozens in China which will become a deadly global pandemic which will affect all of us. By mid January, we saw our first death and cases were confirmed in Thailand, Japan, and South Korea. At this point there were 282 confirmed cases worldwide, with 278 of those being in China. January 21st brings the first confirmed case of the virus in the United States followed by a strict lockdown of the incredibly populous Wuhan Province.

By the end of January the WHO declared this a “public health emergency of international concern” and the Trump administration restricted travel from China. Worldwide we saw around 9800 infections and 213 deaths. Early February came with the death of a man in the Philippines, the first death we had seen outside of China. We also saw the quarantining of a cruise ship, with the ship itself constituting as one of the largest outbreaks in China. Finally, on February 11th this novel coronavirus was given a new name; COVID-19. The CO stands for coronavirus, VI for virus, D for Disease and 19 denotes its origin in late 2019. A few days later the world faced the first death outside of Asia, in France.

As the month came to a close the virus had spread to Iran and Italy had begun to enforce lock downs in certain towns in response to a surge in infections.We also saw the first spread through local transmission within the United States followed shortly after by the first death in the US. On March 3rd, the Center for Disease Control lifted restrictions for virus testing to allow for anyone under suspicion for the disease to get tested if tests are available. One week later the President of the United States banned most travel from continental Europe and declared a national emergency days later.

Mid-march is characterized by lockdowns in response to CDC recommendations against gatherings of more than 50 people. Furthermore, France and Britain impose nationwide lockdowns and Hawaii invokes a mandatory 14-day quarantine for arriving visitors and residents as the international forum is characterized by panic. A bright light in all of this comes with the news on March 19th that China for the first time since December reports no new local infections. By the end of March everything seems to be cancelled with even the Olympics being delayed until 2021.By the start of April Global Cases top one million, deaths reach 100,000 and the United states leads the world in confirmed cases of this virus.


haggadah Section: -- Exodus Story