Timeline of the Coronavirus Pandemic and U.S. Response - 2020-09-09

Editor's note: originally published on April 13, 2020, most recently updated on September 9, 2020.
What follows is a comprehensive timeline of major U.S. policy events related to the novel coronavirus pandemic. We've focused on the U.S. government's preparation for a pandemic, tracking warning signals of COVID-19, and public and internal responses when the outbreak hit inside the United States.
In our view, the timeline is clear: Like previous administrations, the Trump administration knew for years that a pandemic of this gravity was possible and imminently plausible. Several Trump administration officials raised strong concerns prior to the emergence of COVID-19 and raised alarms once the virus appeared within the United States. While some measures were put in place to prepare the United States for pandemic readiness, many more were dismantled since 2017.
- 1918
- 1984
- 2002
- 2006
- 2007
- 2009
- 2011
- 2012
- 2013
- 2014
- 2015
- 2016
- 2017
- 2018
- 2019
- 2020
- 2021
- 60 Minutes
- ABC
- ABC News
- Affordable Care Act
- Alberta
- Alberta Health Services
- Albuquerque
- Alex Azar
- AMA
- Anna Eshoo
- Anthony Fauci
- Arizona
- Associated Press
- Atlanta
- Bao-Ping Zhu
- BBC
- Beijing
- Ben Carson
- Berlin
- Betsy DeVos
- Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority
- Bob Woodward
- Boris Johnson
- Brian Stelter
- Canada
- CARES Act
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
- Chad Wolf
- China
- Chinese
- Chinese Communist Party
- Christi Grimm
- Christopher Liddell
- CIA
- CNBC
- CNN
- Colorado
- Congress
- Coronavirus
- Dan Coats
- Dark Right
- Deborah Birx
- Defense Production Act
- Department of Homeland Security
- Director of National Intelligence
- Donald Trump
- Elaine Chao
- Environmental
- Environmental Protection Agency
- Europe
- European Union
- Executive Order
- Fake
- FEMA
- Food and Drug Administration
- Fox News
- France
- George W. Bush
- Georgia
- Germany
- Greg Sargent
- Hong Kong
- Hospital
- Hydroxychloroquine
- Inspector General
- Iowa
- Italy
- James Mattis
- Jared Kushner
- Jeff Sessions
- Jerome Adams
- John Bolton
- John Kelly
- John Polowczyk
- Joseph Grogan
- Just Security
- Kelly Loeffler
- Ken Cuccinelli
- Lamar Alexander
- Larry Kudlow
- LAX
- Linda McMahon
- Linda Quick
- Los Angeles
- Manhattan
- Marc Short
- Medicaid
- Medical
- Medicare
- Mexico
- Michael Flynn
- Mick Mulvaney
- Mike Pompeo
- National Security Council
- Nebraska
- Nevada
- New England Journal of Medicine
- New Hampshire
- New York
- New York Times
- News article
- North Carolina
- NPR
- Office of the Director of National Intelligence
- Ohio
- Patty Murray
- Pentagon
- Peter Gaynor
- Peter Navarro
- Philadelphia
- Puerto Rico
- Reince Priebus
- Remdesivir
- Reuters
- Rex Tillerson
- Richard Burr
- Rick Bright
- Rick Perry
- Robert Kadlec
- Robert O'Brien
- Robert Redfield
- Ryan Goodman
- San Francisco
- Scott McNabb
- Sean Hannity
- Sean Spicer
- Seattle
- Senate Armed Services Committee
- Senate Intelligence Committee
- Sherrod Brown
- South Carolina
- South Korea
- Stephen Hahn
- Stephen Miller
- Steven Mnuchin
- Strategic National Stockpile
- The Economist
- Today Show
- Tom Bossert
- Tom Cotton
- Tom Price
- United Kingdom
- US Army
- US Secretary of State
- US State Department
- USA
- Wall Street Journal
- Washington
- Washington Post
- White House (Trump)
- White House Coronavirus Task Force
- Wilbur Ross
- World Health Organization
- Xi Jinping
- Xinhua