Some of my friends are arguing about the administration’s response to the Corona Crisis. I’m not interested in that discussion, except from a social and psychological perspective – i.e., how social myths affect rational thinking . But here are some of the facts:

US COVID-19 Case and Death Timeline 12/31 to 4/14 

December 31: China reports virus to WHO

Case and Death Toll: 1 case, no deaths 

January 6: CDC issues travel notice to Wuhan

January 17: CDC starts health screening at SFO, JFK, and LAX

Case and Death Toll: 1 case, no deaths 

January 20: Dr. Fauci says NIH working on vaccine

Case and Death Toll: 5 cases, no deaths 

January 27: CDC announces Level 3 travel notice

January 31: Trump announces travel ban to start on 2/2

February 6: CDC starts shipping testing kits

February 24: Administration requests $2.5 billion to combat the virus

Case and Death Toll (2/28): 9 cases, 4 deaths 

February 29: FDA allows certified labs to begin testing while pending applications; Trump raises travel advisory to Level 4

March 6: Trump signs $8.3 billion coronavirus spending bill

Case and Death Toll (3/7): 407 cases, 27 deaths – 6.6% case fatality rate (CFR) 

March 9: Administration asks Congress for payroll tax cut

March 11: Trump announces travel restriction for Europe

March 13: Trump declares national emergency to access $42 billion in funds

March 13: FDA approves Roche AG and Thermo Fisher tests

Case and Death Toll (3/14): 4,240 cases, 63 deaths – 1.4% CFR 

March 14: Coronavirus Relief Bill passes House

March 16: FDA allows testing in state labs

March 18: US Navy deploys two hospital ships

March 19: Trump announces hope for hydroxychloroquine

March 21: Administration places orders for millions of N95 masks through FEMA

Case and Death Toll (3/21): 45,093 cases, 297 deaths – 0.65% CFR 

March 28: Trump and Cuomo talk

Case and Death Toll (3/28): 107,930 cases, 2,001 deaths – 1.8% CFR 

April 2: Trump invokes Defense Production Act

Case and Death Toll (4/4): 229,268 cases, 8,379 deaths – 3.6% CFR 

April 5: 3,000 military and medical personnel deployed to NY

Case and Death Toll (4/11): 522,843 cases, 16,593 deaths – 3.1% CFR 

April 12: FDA authorizes devices to decontaminate 4 million N95 respirators per day

Case and Death Toll (4/14): 602,473 cases, 25,668 deaths – 4.2% CFR