November 17

A 55-year-old in China’s central Hubei province is the first known person to contract the disease COVID-19 caused by the new coronavirus (according to Chinese government data revealed in March 2020).

December 8

Date established by the World Health Organization (WHO) of the first confirmed case of COVID-19 reported by Chinese authorities. An analysis of the first 41 patients found 27 had direct exposure to a Wuhan seafood market, although this case did not.

Near the entrance of Dzaleka Refugee Camp, white tents sit in long rows. They form a new center opened on April 20. Some red with dust, the tents are yet fresh sentinels to the new realities of caring for the world’s displaced amid a fast-moving pandemic. 

The first reality: A global quarantine has not stopped refugees from fleeing war and deprivation. More than 20 refugees from the Democratic Republic of Congo and Burundi quickly filled reception tents at Dzaleka, 30 miles outside Lilongwe, the capital of Malawi in Africa’s southeastern quadrant.

BRAZIL: As global deaths top 250,000, COVID-19 is hammering South America’s largest country. While critical cases outnumber the beds to care for them, President Jair Bolsonaro continues to shrug at the disease, enacting no isolation policies. Some observers argue he is simply federalizing the country’s response.

UNITED STATES: With grim milestones reached this week—more than 60,000 Americans dead, 1 million confirmed having COVID-19, and 30 million unemployed—President Donald Trump said he will not extend federal guidelines set to expire on Thursday on limiting activity.

BRITAIN: Prime Minister Boris Johnson returned to work on Monday after his battle with the coronavirus, appearing lighter and less intense, but he resisted calls to ease Britain’s lockdown measures. He also said Britain will not extend its deadline for negotiating a trade deal with the European Union following Brexit, despite the pandemic.

SAUDI ARABIA: Thursday marks the start of Ramadan, the Islamic holy month normally characterized by communal prayers and sprawling nighttime meals to break each day’s dawn-to-dusk fast.

Our new socially distanced Saturday morning outdoor market has an alligator greeting shoppers. In better days he worked the pool as a floatie, but now the inflatable reptile has been deployed in the war on coronavirus. At full capacity, he’s precisely six feet long, sporting a cheerful sign directing those heading toward spring lettuce and turnips to stay at least that far apart.