Timeline: How the coronavirus has affected Sonoma County
The first reports on the worldwide coronavirus pandemic were scattered and few, starting with brief bulletins from a remote part of China in December. The news began to spread sporadically during January as the virus turned up in other countries.
By February, concern increased as the first coronavirus death outside China was reported. In March, the international news became a local story, with the report of the first Sonoma County resident diagnosed with the disease. Now the updates are coming in hourly, as the county, state and federal governments move to address the threat.
This timeline, which includes reporting from Press Democrat news services, illustrates how the pace of the reports and responses have quickened month by month, and now day by day.
DEC. 31
The government in Wuhan, China, says health authorities are treating dozens of cases of pneumonia of unknown cause. Days later, researchers in China identify a new virus that had infected dozens of people in Asia. Officials at the time say there is no evidence that the virus is readily spread by humans. Health officials in China say they are monitoring the disease.
JAN. 11
Chinese state media report the first known death from an illness caused by the virus, which has infected dozens of people. The 61-year-old man who died was a regular customer at a market in Wuhan where the illness is believed to have originated. He had previously been found to have abdominal tumors and chronic liver disease. The report of his death comes not long before one of China's biggest holidays, when hundreds of millions of people travel across the country to celebrate the Lunar New Year.
JAN. 20
Other countries, including the United States, confirm cases. The first confirmed cases outside mainland China occur in Japan, South Korea and Thailand, according to the World Health Organization's first situation report. The first confirmed case in the United States comes the next day in Washington state, where a man in his 30s developed symptoms after returning from a trip to Wuhan.
JAN. 30
WHO declares a “public health emergency of international concern” in response to thousands of new cases emerging in China. A foreign ministry spokeswoman in China says her government would continue to work with WHO and other countries to protect public health. The U.S. State Department warns travelers to avoid China.
JAN. 31
The Trump administration restricts travel from China. An executive order suspends entry into the United States by any foreign nationals who have traveled to China in the past 14 days, excluding the immediate family members of American citizens or permanent residents. By this date, 213 people have died and nearly 9,800 have been infected worldwide.
FEB. 2
The first coronavirus death, a 44-year-old man in the Philippines, is reported outside China. By this point, more than 360 people have died.
FEB. 7
A Chinese doctor who tried to raise alarm about the novel coronavirus dies. Dr. Li Wenliang is hailed as a hero by many for his warning to colleagues in late December that a cluster of infections could spin out of control. The doctor, whose comments were published online, was warned by police for speaking out. He has since been exonerated by the Chinese government, which issued a “solemn apology” to his family.
FEB. 24
A passenger who had been quarantined at Travis Air Force Base in Fairfield after contracting coronavirus on the Diamond Princess cruise ship in Japan is transferred for quarantine to an undisclosed Sonoma County hospital. Though the patient has tested positive for the virus, they are displaying no symptoms. That person has since left the area.
MARCH 2
A Sonoma County resident who recently returned from a cruise on the Grand Princess to Mexico is the first local person to test positive for coronavirus, prompting county health officials to declare a local public health emergency. The resident was one of 78 people from Sonoma County who took the cruise. A second passenger from the cruise living locally would later test positive for the virus.
MARCH 3
A Placer County man, 71, who fell ill with COVID-19 on the Grand Princess cruise dies, becoming the first death from the illness in California.
MARCH 4
Gov. Gavin Newsom declares a state of emergency designed to ramp up efforts to combat the coronavirus.
MARCH 6
The first coronavirus test kit for use by Sonoma County hospitals arrives. The Sonoma County Farm Bureau cancels its annual Ag Days celebration at the Sonoma County Fairgrounds, among the first set of local cancellations related to the coronavirus.
MARCH 8
Italy locks down 16 million people, roughly a quarter of its population, in an attempt to prevent coronavirus from spreading. The U.S. death toll rises to 21, nearly all of them connected to a nursing home in Washington state.
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