So much happening a year ago today in the COVID world. Let's not forget to see what the president had to say.
"So last year 37,000 Americans died from the common Flu. It averages between 27,000 and 70,000 per year. Nothing is shut down, life & the economy go on. At this moment there are 546 confirmed cases of CoronaVirus with 22 deaths. Think about that!"
The true number of cases was likely far beyond 100,000 and doubling every few days, but our testing was still extremely restricted. (If you weren't an international traveler or exposed to someone who was, you probably weren't getting tested no matter what the symptoms. This would continue for quite a while.) During a news conference, White House officials said the U.S. will have tested one million people that week and thereafter would complete 4 million tests per week. (March 9 was a Monday.) By the end of the week, the total would be around 4,000, in a string of broken promises.
No city was locked down in the US, but events were being cancelled. Italy had decided to lock down the Lombardy region on March 8, but made the mistake of announcing the intent on March 7. This resulted in a diaspora from Lombardy to the rest of the country before the lockdown took effect...making it necessary to lock down the entire country March 9. This lockdown was significantly tighter than any implemented in the US, but not nearly as draconian as the Wuhan lockdowns.
The political fault lines were already formed in the US. On the left, discussion about how and when to prevent the spread. On the right, a mixture of denial that it was serious, or claims that most people are immune and it will be one short wave regardless of what we do.