March 11, 2020, the date when the world changed forever. Just a day before, Americans were leading a normal life. The SARS-Cov-2 which was later labeled as the COVID-19 was first found in mainland China. It had nothing to do with Americans. They were as aloof about it as the then US President Donald Trump.
On March 11, 2020, the coronavirus cases in America crossed the 1000 mark, a 10-fold increase as compared to the cases reported in the previous week. Only 29 Americans had died till then.
On that fateful day, everything changed within a matter of hours. A sudden halt struck the daily routine of the Americans. It marked the start of a new era that was embellished with changes in the economic, political, and social spheres of American society.
The major events of March 11, 2020
On this fateful day, in Geneva, Switzerland, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the COVID-19 as a pandemic, acknowledging the chaos it had triggered all around the world. The doctors and medical professionals were at loss to understand how to curtail the virus’s spread.
President Donald Trump finally decided to address the nation. He urged the American people to adopt necessary precautions to prevent the coronavirus from becoming a major health issue. He announced to ban all flights from Europe to curtail the virus.
March 11 was a day of many firsts. For the first time, the NBA, announced the suspension of its season after player Rudy Gobert tested positive for the coronavirus.
Tom Hanks and Rita Wilson become the first Hollywood couple to contract coronavirus on the sets of a film in Australia.
Capitol Hill recorded its first confirmed COVID-19 case.
Within hours, schools were shut down, streets became empty while hospitals started to fill up, with an overwhelming surge in the positive cases.
The threat was real. By mid-March as the cases began to peak, while the death toll continued to rise with each passing day. Even till then, many Americans were aloof about the consequences of the coronavirus, and the havoc it would wreak in the coming months.
Almost 88% of Americans at that time had predicted that the death toll due to coronavirus would not surpass 10,000. Today, after exactly one year of that tumultuous tragic day, more than half a million Americans have lost their lives due to novel coronavirus.
The virus has affected everyone across the world regardless of color, creed, or community. Life changed – launching the future in a territory unknown.
From the New York Stock Exchange to deserted basketball arenas, from Capitol Hill building to the airports across states, America will never forget this contemporaneous day in her history.
