1/ Coronavirus timeline: who* did what & when
*major players: China, WHO, Trump/WH, FDA, CDC, Cuomo, NYC, media
Jan 1 - China orders labs that successfully mapped coronavirus genome in late December to stop testing and destroy samples.
*major players: China, WHO, Trump/WH, FDA, CDC, Cuomo, NYC, media
Jan 1 - China orders labs that successfully mapped coronavirus genome in late December to stop testing and destroy samples.
2/
Dec 30 - Dr. Li Wenliang warns Chinese doctors about virus. A few days later he was threatened by police to stop “making false comments”.
Dec 31 - Taiwan warned WHO of evidence of human-to-human transmission, but WHO ignored because it doesn’t recognize Taiwan
Dec 30 - Dr. Li Wenliang warns Chinese doctors about virus. A few days later he was threatened by police to stop “making false comments”.
Dec 31 - Taiwan warned WHO of evidence of human-to-human transmission, but WHO ignored because it doesn’t recognize Taiwan
3/
Jan 12 - China shares coronavirus genetic sequence
Jan 14 - WHO tweets “Chinese authorities have found no clear evidence of human-to-human transmission” then reversed that a week later.
Jan 15 - House votes to transmit articles of impeachment to Senate
Jan 12 - China shares coronavirus genetic sequence
Jan 14 - WHO tweets “Chinese authorities have found no clear evidence of human-to-human transmission” then reversed that a week later.
Jan 15 - House votes to transmit articles of impeachment to Senate
4/
Jan 21 - Senate impeachment trial begins
Jan 21 - CDC reports 1st case of coronavirus infection in the US
Jan 21 - Dr. Fauci “This is not a major threat to the people of the US and this is not something that the citizens of the US should be worried about right now”
Jan 21 - Senate impeachment trial begins
Jan 21 - CDC reports 1st case of coronavirus infection in the US
Jan 21 - Dr. Fauci “This is not a major threat to the people of the US and this is not something that the citizens of the US should be worried about right now”
5/
Jan 22 - Trump reply to Q on 1st US case: "We have it totally under control...It’s one person coming in from China, and we have it under control. It’s going to be just fine.”
Jan 22-23 - WHO declines to call COVID19 “public health emergency of international concern”
Jan 22 - Trump reply to Q on 1st US case: "We have it totally under control...It’s one person coming in from China, and we have it under control. It’s going to be just fine.”
Jan 22-23 - WHO declines to call COVID19 “public health emergency of international concern”
6/
Jan 23 - Vox "The evidence on travel bans for diseases like coronavirus is clear: They don’t work."
Jan 26 - NYC health commish, Barbot: Those “who had recently traveled from Wuhan were not being urged to self-quarantine or avoid large public gatherings.”
Jan 23 - Vox "The evidence on travel bans for diseases like coronavirus is clear: They don’t work."
Jan 26 - NYC health commish, Barbot: Those “who had recently traveled from Wuhan were not being urged to self-quarantine or avoid large public gatherings.”
7/
Jan 29 - WH trade adviser Peter Navarro memo says “risk of a worst-case pandemic scenario should not be overlooked”.
Jan 29 - Trump announces Coronavirus Task Force
Jan 30 - WHO director-general Tedros “WHO doesn’t recommend limiting trade and movement”
Jan 29 - WH trade adviser Peter Navarro memo says “risk of a worst-case pandemic scenario should not be overlooked”.
Jan 29 - Trump announces Coronavirus Task Force
Jan 30 - WHO director-general Tedros “WHO doesn’t recommend limiting trade and movement”
8/
Jan 30 - Tedros following visit to Beijing "I left in absolutely no doubt about China’s commitment to transparency”
Jan 30 - WHO declares COVID-19 “public health emergency of international concern”
Jan 30 - Tedros following visit to Beijing "I left in absolutely no doubt about China’s commitment to transparency”
Jan 30 - WHO declares COVID-19 “public health emergency of international concern”
9/
Jan 31 - Trump announces China travel restrictions.
Jan 31 - 6 cases & 0 deaths reported in the US
Jan 31 - WaPo “[Trump's] disregard of WHO recommendation against travel restrictions."
Jan 31 - Vox “Is this going to be a deadly pandemic? No."
Jan 31 - Trump announces China travel restrictions.
Jan 31 - 6 cases & 0 deaths reported in the US
Jan 31 - WaPo “[Trump's] disregard of WHO recommendation against travel restrictions."
Jan 31 - Vox “Is this going to be a deadly pandemic? No."
10/
Jan 31 - Buzzfeed "barring foreign travelers from China, along with making U.S. citizens self-quarantine at home...likely violated civil rights laws, w/o leading to any real lowered risk of a U.S. outbreak," citing "global health law expert" Lawrence Gostin of Georgetown U.
Jan 31 - Buzzfeed "barring foreign travelers from China, along with making U.S. citizens self-quarantine at home...likely violated civil rights laws, w/o leading to any real lowered risk of a U.S. outbreak," citing "global health law expert" Lawrence Gostin of Georgetown U.
11/
Jan 31 - HHS declares public health emergency
Feb 1 - Biden “We are in the midst of a crisis w/ the coronavirus. We need to lead the way with science - not Donald Trump’s record of hysteria, xenophobia, and fear-mongering.”
Feb 2 - China travel restrictions begin
Jan 31 - HHS declares public health emergency
Feb 1 - Biden “We are in the midst of a crisis w/ the coronavirus. We need to lead the way with science - not Donald Trump’s record of hysteria, xenophobia, and fear-mongering.”
Feb 2 - China travel restrictions begin
12/
Feb 5 - NYC's Barbot “Today our city is celebrating the Lunar New Year parade in Chinatown, a beautiful cultural tradition with a rich history in our city. I want to remind everyone to enjoy the parade and not change any plans due to misinfo spreading about coronavirus.”
Feb 5 - NYC's Barbot “Today our city is celebrating the Lunar New Year parade in Chinatown, a beautiful cultural tradition with a rich history in our city. I want to remind everyone to enjoy the parade and not change any plans due to misinfo spreading about coronavirus.”
13/
Feb 5 - Senate impeachment trial ends, Trump acquitted.
Feb 5 - CDC begins shipping test kits. Instead of focusing on just testing for coronavirus, CDC’s kits also tested for similar viruses. Coronavirus tests worked. Other tests had false positives.
Feb 5 - Senate impeachment trial ends, Trump acquitted.
Feb 5 - CDC begins shipping test kits. Instead of focusing on just testing for coronavirus, CDC’s kits also tested for similar viruses. Coronavirus tests worked. Other tests had false positives.
14/
Feb 6 - Li Wenliang, Chinese doctor who warned colleagues on Dec 30, dies from coronavirus.
Feb 6 - Li Wenliang, Chinese doctor who warned colleagues on Dec 30, dies from coronavirus.
15/
Feb 9 - NYC council health cmte chair, Mark D. Levine “In powerful show of defiance of #coronavirus scare, huge crowds gathering in NYC's Chinatown for ceremony ahead of annual #LunarNewYear parade. Chants of "be strong Wuhan!" If you are staying away, you are missing out!”
Feb 9 - NYC council health cmte chair, Mark D. Levine “In powerful show of defiance of #coronavirus scare, huge crowds gathering in NYC's Chinatown for ceremony ahead of annual #LunarNewYear parade. Chants of "be strong Wuhan!" If you are staying away, you are missing out!”
16/
Feb 10 - CDC notifies FDA about the problems with their test kits. FDA still hasn’t authorized private labs to use their own tests.
Feb 12 - Trump “you know in April, supposedly [the virus] dies with the hotter weather.”
Feb 10 - CDC notifies FDA about the problems with their test kits. FDA still hasn’t authorized private labs to use their own tests.
Feb 12 - Trump “you know in April, supposedly [the virus] dies with the hotter weather.”
17/
Feb 13 - NYC mayor de Blasio: “This should not stop you from going about your life. It should not stop you from going to Chinatown and going out to eat.”
Feb 13 - Trump declares coronavirus outbreak a national emergency
Feb 13 - NYC mayor de Blasio: “This should not stop you from going about your life. It should not stop you from going to Chinatown and going out to eat.”
Feb 13 - Trump declares coronavirus outbreak a national emergency
18/
Feb 23 - WH trade advisor Navarro in second memo “increasing probability of a full-blown COVID-19 pandemic” that could infect 100M and kill 1.2M Americans."
Feb 24 - WH sends $3B supplemental budget request to Congress.
Feb 23 - WH trade advisor Navarro in second memo “increasing probability of a full-blown COVID-19 pandemic” that could infect 100M and kill 1.2M Americans."
Feb 24 - WH sends $3B supplemental budget request to Congress.
19/
Feb 24 - 100+ state & local health labs send letter to FDA asking for permission to use their tests. Permission denied. Federal govt still has a monopoly on testing.
Feb 24 - 100+ state & local health labs send letter to FDA asking for permission to use their tests. Permission denied. Federal govt still has a monopoly on testing.
20/
Feb 25 - CDC “person-to-person spread of COVID-19 appears to occur mainly by respiratory transmission. How easily the virus is transmitted between persons is currently unclear.”
Feb 25 - CDC “person-to-person spread of COVID-19 appears to occur mainly by respiratory transmission. How easily the virus is transmitted between persons is currently unclear.”
21/
Feb 28 - Two new cases in CA and OR are “believed to have been transmitted to people who had not traveled to other affected countries or come in close contact with anyone who had it. This suggested that asymptomatic individuals were now transferring the virus”
Feb 28 - Two new cases in CA and OR are “believed to have been transmitted to people who had not traveled to other affected countries or come in close contact with anyone who had it. This suggested that asymptomatic individuals were now transferring the virus”
22/
Feb 28 - New England Journal of Medicine: German doctors treating patients in Wuhan report that asymptomatic persons can transfer the virus.
Feb 29 - First reported US death from coronavirus
Feb 28 - New England Journal of Medicine: German doctors treating patients in Wuhan report that asymptomatic persons can transfer the virus.
Feb 29 - First reported US death from coronavirus
23/
Feb 29 - FDA cuts the red tape, allows 5,000 specially certified labs to use their own tests. The ruling still excludes the bulk of US labs, numbering around 260,000.
Feb 29 - FDA cuts the red tape, allows 5,000 specially certified labs to use their own tests. The ruling still excludes the bulk of US labs, numbering around 260,000.
24/
Mar 1 - Surgeon General Jerome Adams "#COVID19 is a serious disease, but for the general public the immediate health risk is considered low”
Mar 2 - NYC mayor de Blasio “I’m encouraging New Yorkers to go on with your lives and get out on the town despite Coronavirus.”
Mar 1 - Surgeon General Jerome Adams "#COVID19 is a serious disease, but for the general public the immediate health risk is considered low”
Mar 2 - NYC mayor de Blasio “I’m encouraging New Yorkers to go on with your lives and get out on the town despite Coronavirus.”
25/
Mar 2 - NY gov Cuomo: "This isn't our first rodeo...We are fully coordinated, and we are fully mobilized, and we are fully prepared to deal with the situation as it develops."
Mar 2 - NY gov Cuomo: "This isn't our first rodeo...We are fully coordinated, and we are fully mobilized, and we are fully prepared to deal with the situation as it develops."
26/
Mar 2 - Trump says Democrats “are fearmongering" and criticized him when he "closed the country down to China many weeks ahead of what almost everyone recommended."
Mar 2 - Trump says Democrats “are fearmongering" and criticized him when he "closed the country down to China many weeks ahead of what almost everyone recommended."
27/
Mar 3 - CDC lifts all restrictions on who can be tested. Any doctor can order a test. “Previously, testing was limited to only those who were exhibiting symptoms and had recently traveled to China or had been exposed to a known case.”
Mar 3 - CDC lifts all restrictions on who can be tested. Any doctor can order a test. “Previously, testing was limited to only those who were exhibiting symptoms and had recently traveled to China or had been exposed to a known case.”
28/
Mar 4 - NYC’s Bardot: “There’s no indication that being in a car, being in the subways with someone who’s potentially sick is a risk factor, because, again, it goes back to the issue of casual contact.”
Mar 4 - NYC’s Bardot: “There’s no indication that being in a car, being in the subways with someone who’s potentially sick is a risk factor, because, again, it goes back to the issue of casual contact.”
Mar 5 - Trump “So if we have thousands or hundreds of thousands of people that get better, just by, you know, sitting around and even going to work, some of them go to work, but they get better."
29/
Mar 6 - Trump signs $8.3B emergency coronavirus aid package #1
Mar 9 - Italy announces nationwide quarantine. NYC’s de Blasio: “What I would say is we should not want to do, with all due respect to Italy, we try not to get to that level.”
Mar 6 - Trump signs $8.3B emergency coronavirus aid package #1
Mar 9 - Italy announces nationwide quarantine. NYC’s de Blasio: “What I would say is we should not want to do, with all due respect to Italy, we try not to get to that level.”
30/
Mar 9 - NYC schools remain open
Mar 9 - NYC mayor de Blasio “If you are sick, you shouldn’t be going to a public event. If you are sick, you shouldn’t be going to work. If you’re sick, you shouldn’t be going on the subway.” Public gatherings are still permitted.
Mar 9 - NYC schools remain open
Mar 9 - NYC mayor de Blasio “If you are sick, you shouldn’t be going to a public event. If you are sick, you shouldn’t be going to work. If you’re sick, you shouldn’t be going on the subway.” Public gatherings are still permitted.
31/
Mar 9 - Bernie Sanders asked if he would close the border to prevent Coronavirus from further spreading.
Sanders: "No."
Mar 11 - WHO declares COVID-19 a pandemic (41 days after declaring it a “public health emergency of international concern”)
Mar 9 - Bernie Sanders asked if he would close the border to prevent Coronavirus from further spreading.
Sanders: "No."
Mar 11 - WHO declares COVID-19 a pandemic (41 days after declaring it a “public health emergency of international concern”)
32/
Mar 11 - Study estimates that if China had been more transparent earlier, global cases could have been reduced by:
66% - 1 week earlier
86% - 2 weeks earlier
95% - 3 weeks earlier
southampton.ac.uk/news/2020/03/c…
Mar 11 - Study estimates that if China had been more transparent earlier, global cases could have been reduced by:
66% - 1 week earlier
86% - 2 weeks earlier
95% - 3 weeks earlier
southampton.ac.uk/news/2020/03/c…
33/
Mar 11 - Mayor de Blasio “telling people to not avoid restaurants, not avoid normal things that people do. . . . If you’re not sick, you should be going about your life."
Mar 11 - Oval Office address, announces travel restrictions for foreigners who’ve been in Europe
Mar 11 - Mayor de Blasio “telling people to not avoid restaurants, not avoid normal things that people do. . . . If you’re not sick, you should be going about your life."
Mar 11 - Oval Office address, announces travel restrictions for foreigners who’ve been in Europe
34/
Mar 11: After Oval Office address, de Blasio says Trump “minimizing what has now become a global pandemic.
Mar 12 - de Blasio “reluctant to close schools b/c so many parents cannot work w/ children at home...for some school is only source of meals & other basic services.”
Mar 11: After Oval Office address, de Blasio says Trump “minimizing what has now become a global pandemic.
Mar 12 - de Blasio “reluctant to close schools b/c so many parents cannot work w/ children at home...for some school is only source of meals & other basic services.”
35/
Mar 12 - de Blasio: “We receive extraordinary new information on what now literally feels like an hourly basis. . . . Literally, yesterday morning feels like a long time ago.”
Mar 15 - de Blasio closes schools, shuts down bars & restaurants.
Mar 12 - de Blasio: “We receive extraordinary new information on what now literally feels like an hourly basis. . . . Literally, yesterday morning feels like a long time ago.”
Mar 15 - de Blasio closes schools, shuts down bars & restaurants.
36/
Mar 15 - HHS waives sanctions and penalties against hospitals that don’t comply with some provisions of HIPAA that were holding up testing.
Mar 16 - FDA cuts even more red tape. All ~260,000 labs can now do tests.
Mar 15 - HHS waives sanctions and penalties against hospitals that don’t comply with some provisions of HIPAA that were holding up testing.
Mar 16 - FDA cuts even more red tape. All ~260,000 labs can now do tests.
37/
Mar 16 - Trump announces 15-day guidelines that encourage social distancing (i.e. shutdown). Total US deaths: 255 at this point.
Mar 18 - Trump signs $100B emergency coronavirus aid package #2
Mar 20 - NY governor Cuomo orders shutdown of all non-essential businesses
Mar 16 - Trump announces 15-day guidelines that encourage social distancing (i.e. shutdown). Total US deaths: 255 at this point.
Mar 18 - Trump signs $100B emergency coronavirus aid package #2
Mar 20 - NY governor Cuomo orders shutdown of all non-essential businesses
38/
Mar 27 - Trump signs $2T emergency coronavirus aid package #3
Mar 29 - Trump extends 15-day ‘shutdown’ guidelines thru to April 30
Apr 3 - Cuomo: "We underestimated this virus. It's more powerful. It's more dangerous than we expected,"
Mar 27 - Trump signs $2T emergency coronavirus aid package #3
Mar 29 - Trump extends 15-day ‘shutdown’ guidelines thru to April 30
Apr 3 - Cuomo: "We underestimated this virus. It's more powerful. It's more dangerous than we expected,"
39/
Observations:
China's duplicity & WHO's complicity screwed the world. Their cover-up left every tier of govt — already slow to begin with — flat footed against a novel virus.
Observations:
China's duplicity & WHO's complicity screwed the world. Their cover-up left every tier of govt — already slow to begin with — flat footed against a novel virus.
40/
China travel restrictions announced 29 days before the 1st US death. Twenty days after 1st death 15-day shutdown guidelines announced (after 255 totals deaths).
China travel restrictions announced 29 days before the 1st US death. Twenty days after 1st death 15-day shutdown guidelines announced (after 255 totals deaths).
41/
To put shutting down the economy after 255 deaths into context: US averages 7,750 deaths per day.
Shutting things down any earlier would likely have met with massive resistance and ridicule.
To put shutting down the economy after 255 deaths into context: US averages 7,750 deaths per day.
Shutting things down any earlier would likely have met with massive resistance and ridicule.
42/42
Private sector can turn on a dime. The administrative state (e.g. FDA) strangles or discourages innovation in normal times and is ill-suited to respond to emergencies.
Private sector can turn on a dime. The administrative state (e.g. FDA) strangles or discourages innovation in normal times and is ill-suited to respond to emergencies.
N.B. @nick_weil makes a great point about tough decisions amid the fog of war.
