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COVID-19 pandemic in the United States

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COVID-19 pandemic in the United States
Confirmed cases per 100,000 residents by state.
DiseaseCOVID-19
Virus strainSARS-CoV-2
LocationUnited States
First outbreakWuhan, Hubei, China[1]
Index caseChicago, Illinois (earliest known arrival)[2]
Everett, Washington (first case report)[3]
Arrival dateJanuary 13, 2020[4]
(4 years, 9 months and 2 weeks ago)
Confirmed cases103,436,829[5]
Deaths
1,204,625[5] (reported)
Vaccinations
  • 270,227,170[5] (79.1216%) (people with at least one dose)
  • 230,637,340[5] (67.52983%) (fully vaccinated people)
Government website
coronavirus.gov

The COVID-19 pandemic spread to the United States in January 2020. The first confirmed case of local transmission was recorded in January in Chicago and the first known deaths happened in February.

By the end of March, cases had happened in all 50 U.S. states, the District of Columbia, and all U.S. territories except American Samoa.[6][7]

As of October 27, 2024, 103,436,829 cases of COVID-19 have been reported, and 1,204,625 people have died of COVID-19.[8]

As of May 13, 2020, the U.S. had the most confirmed active cases and deaths in the world, and its death rate was 206 per million people, the tenth-highest rate globally.

Trump response

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The Trump administration made a public health emergency on January 31, and on February 2nd he began to end the entry of most foreign nationals who had recently travelled to China. People have said that the country's response to the pandemic was slow regarding testing and medical response.

Warnings

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On February 25, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention warned the American public for the first time to prepare for a local outbreak.[9]

National emergency

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A national emergency was declared on March 13. In early March, the Food and Drug Administration began allowing public health agencies and private companies to create and carry out tests.[10] The Trump administration waited until mid-March to start purchasing large amounts of medical equipment.

On March 16, the White House announced that they were against any gatherings of more than ten people.[11] Since March 19, 2020, the U.S. Department of State has said all U.S. citizens to avoid all international travel.[12]

State and local responses

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State and local responses to the outbreak have included cancellation of large gatherings, stay-at-home orders, and the closing of schools and other educational institutions.[13]

Large numbers of outbreaks in the U.S. were seen in black American populations.[14]

Many numbers of infections and deaths have happened in nursing homes, long-term care facilities, prisons, and other detention centers, meatpacking plants, churches, and larger cities such as New York City, Chicago, Los Angeles, and Seattle.[15]

In July 2020, scientists from Johns Hopkins University told people that deaths from COVID-19 in United States prisons were much higher than the average for the whole country. There were about 3251 sick prisoners and 39 deaths out of every 100,000 prisoners. The national average was about 587 sick United States residents and 29 deaths for every 100,000 United States residents.[16]

References

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  1. Sheikh K, Rabin RC (March 10, 2020). "The Coronavirus: What Scientists Have Learned So Far". The New York Times. Retrieved March 24, 2020.
  2. "Coronavirus: the first three months as it happened". Nature. April 22, 2020. doi:10.1038/d41586-020-00154-w. PMID 32152592. S2CID 212652777.
  3. Holshue ML, DeBolt C, Lindquist S, Lofy KH, Wiesman J, Bruce H, et al. (March 2020). "First Case of 2019 Novel Coronavirus in the United States". New England Journal of Medicine. 382 (10): 929–936. doi:10.1056/NEJMoa2001191. PMC 7092802. PMID 32004427.
  4. "Second Travel-related Case of 2019 Novel Coronavirus Detected in United States". U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). Second Travel-related Case of 2019 Novel Coronavirus Detected in United States: The patient returned to the U.S. from Wuhan on January 13, 2020
  5. 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 Ritchie, Hannah; Mathieu, Edouard; Rodés-Guirao, Lucas; Appel, Cameron; Giattino, Charlie; Ortiz-Ospina, Esteban; Hasell, Joe; Macdonald, Bobbie; Beltekian, Diana; Dattani, Saloni; Roser, Max (2020–2023). "Coronavirus Pandemic (COVID-19)". Our World in Data. Retrieved 2024-10-27.
  6. "CDC Weekly Key Messages: March 29, 2020 as of 10:30 p.m." Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. March 29, 2020. Archived from the original on April 28, 2020. Retrieved April 28, 2020.
  7. Smith, Oliver (April 21, 2020). "The only places on Earth still (apparently) without coronavirus". The Daily Telegraph. Archived from the original on April 24, 2020. Retrieved April 28, 2020.
  8. Ritchie, Hannah; Mathieu, Edouard; Rodés-Guirao, Lucas; Appel, Cameron; Giattino, Charlie; Ortiz-Ospina, Esteban; Hasell, Joe; Macdonald, Bobbie; Beltekian, Diana; Dattani, Saloni; Roser, Max (2020–2023). "Coronavirus Pandemic (COVID-19)". Our World in Data. Retrieved 2024-10-27.
  9. Taylor, Marisa (March 23, 2020). "Exclusive: U.S. axed CDC expert job in China months before virus outbreak". Reuters. Retrieved March 24, 2020.
  10. Sprunt, Barbara; Montanaro, Domenico (2 April 2020). "FACT CHECK: Trump Claims U.S. Testing For Coronavirus Most Per Capita—It's Not". NPR.org. Retrieved April 18, 2020. Given the population of the U.S. (about 327 million) ...
  11. Liptak, Kevin (March 16, 2020). "White House advises public to avoid groups of more than 10, asks people to stay away from bars and restaurants". CNN. Retrieved March 18, 2020.
  12. "Global Level 4 Health Advisory—Do Not Travel". travel.state.gov. Archived from the original on 2020-08-03. Retrieved 2020-05-14.
  13. Deb, Sopan; Cacciola, Scott; Stein, Marc (March 11, 2020). "Sports Leagues Bar Fans and Cancel Games Amid Coronavirus Outbreak". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved March 12, 2020.
  14. Washington, Adam Gabbatt David Smith in (12 May 2020). "Trump accused of racism after clash with Asian American reporter". The Guardian. Retrieved May 12, 2020.
  15. Anne Schuchat (1 May 2020). "Public Health Response to the Initiation and Spread of Pandemic COVID-19 in the United States, February 24–April 21, 2020". MMWR. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. 69 (18): 551–556. doi:10.15585/mmwr.mm6918e2. PMC 7737947. PMID 32379733.
  16. Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health (July 8, 2020). "COVID-19 cases and deaths in federal and state prisons significantly higher than in US population" (Press release). Retrieved July 8, 2020.