The coronavirus pandemic has upended life around the world. What started as a mysterious pneumonia-like illness in Wuhan, China, has spread to nearly every country, culminating in at least one million deaths globally, according to data from Johns Hopkins University. Here's a timeline of the pandemic's insidious path around the world.
It started as a seemingly perplexing case of pneumonia.
From a wet market in Wuhan, China, Covid-19 has spread to nearly every country on the globe in just under nine months. It’s overturned daily lives, shuttered businesses and schools, and disrupted the world economy. It’s infected more than 33 million people worldwide and has killed at least 1 million people - a toll that’s likely to be far more than the official tallies show, global health officials say.
The coronavirus has laid bare public health shortcomings in even the most advanced countries on the planet that, up until 2020, hadn’t witnessed a pandemic for more than 100 years. In the U.S., Covid-19 has tested hospital systems and their capacity to treat severely ill patients and has pushed drug companies to try to develop vaccines and therapeutics in record time.
The World Health Organization has warned, however, that the coronavirus pandemic is not over. According to a WHO situation report on Monday, there were nearly 2 million new Covid-19 cases reported the week ended Sept. 20, the highest number of reported cases in a week since the epidemic began. The Americas continue to report the bulk of new cases, representing half of all reported coronavirus infections across the globe so far.
“It has not burned out, it is not burning out, it is not going away,” Dr. Mike Ryan, executive director of the WHO’s health emergencies program, said of the coronavirus during a press briefing on Sept. 18.
This is the insidious path the coronavirus took to kill at least 1 million people. The number of reported deaths below come from WHO situation reports and data compiled by Johns Hopkins University released on the corresponding day.