January
The first confirmed case of the virus in the United States
was discovered on January 21, 2020. The infected individual was a man in his
30s from Washington state. He traveled from Wuhan, China, but he said he did
not interact with anyone known to have been infected with the virus, according
to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention officials.
The
CDC confirmed that the patient traveled through Seattle-Tacoma International
Airport on Jan. 15 and developed symptoms shortly after. When he saw a doctor,
a clinical specimen was collected and sent to the CDC for lab testing.
On January 31, 2020, the Trump administration restricted travel from
China.
Covid-19 cases – US 7 cases
Life
in January - Nothing much in January. Life went on as normal. No one tried to stock
up household stuff yet. No masks up. I searched surgical masks online in hope
of stocking some just in case but it was out of stock every site.
February
On February 7, 2020, Dr. Li
Wenliang, a Chinese
doctor, died after contracting the coronavirus, he was hailed as a hero by
many for trying to ring early alarms that infections could spin out of control.
On
February 11, the WHO announced the formal name for the virus, COVID-19.
"Having
a name matters to prevent the use of other names that can be inaccurate or
stigmatizing. It also gives us a standard format to use for any future
coronavirus outbreaks," said Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus,
Director-General of WHO, when the name was announced.
On February 23, Italy saw a major surge in cases.
Around February and March, US brought about 400-500 US passengers from Diamond
Princess cruise ship back from Japan to US.
Some were already infected. They
were then quarantined at US military bases in California and Texas. Later, Grand Princess cruise ship also docked
at Port of Oakland, California. They
also had confirmed Covid-19 cases.
In February, US still lacked testing kits.
CDC could not develop accurate testing kits. FDA still had not approved
private labs.
Covid-19
cases – US
24 cases, 1 death
Life
in February - I started to apply for Costco
membership as I thought it might be time to stock up household stuff. I bought hand soap and toilet papers from
Costco. I went to buy N-95 masks from
Home Depot which at that time, they started to run out of stock. I bought
several boxes; some with 5 pieces, some with 10+ pieces. I shared with colleagues at work and also a
friend. But then, I returned lots of
them too. LoL
March
On Friday, March 13, 2020 at 3:33 PM, President Donald Trump announced a
nationwide state of emergency due to the coronavirus COVID-19 pandemic. Every state started to lock down.
New
York City became the deadliest battle ground state for Covid-19 with the
highest death toll. Hospitals could not handle streaming of Covid-19 patients
plus the lack of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) (which was not just in NYC
but actually across the country).
US was
still very behind on testing. Once the CDC test was shown to be faulty, the FDA removed
that restriction but that put private manufacturers weeks behind, and the U.S.
was unable to catch up as the virus spread around the country. Around March
16, 2020, FDA approved the first commercial lab testing.
Covid-19
cases – US 185,992 cases, 3,806 deaths GA
4,117 cases, 125 deaths
Life
in March – I started to wear mask
and gloves when going to Kroger. I
looked like an alien there. After the state
of emergency announcement, people rushed to buy household stuff like Lysol, Clorox,
Cleanex, gloves, soap, hand sanitizers, etc and the shelves started to get
emptied. As for rice, I could get the last 20 lb. bag of Japanese rice from CA.
I guess because not a lot of Asians
lived in my area. Over San Francisco and NYC, I heard my friends could not find
bag of rice at all. Masks and hand
sanitizers could not be found at all online or in store.
School started remote
learning from March 16. The same time
as when I started to work from home.
I started to sew about
90 masks with the help of Jasmine and I mailed them to my relatives and friends
in NYC, CA, TX and MO.
April
In
April, New York City, the Covid-19 victims were wheeled from packed morgues into
refrigerated trailers outside hospitals. No mourning at houses of worship,
funeral homes or cemeteries. Several were buried at New York City’s Hart
Island. Lines of caskets could be seen being covered with dirt in long trenches
on the island earlier this month.
April 8, 2020, in Georgia, Governor Brian Kemp extends the
statewide shelter in place order through the end of April.
April
21, 2020, Georgia: Governor Kemp announced on April 20 that many
businesses could reopen on April 24, including "gyms, hair salons, bowling
alleys and tattoo parlors", with restaurants and movie theaters allowed to
reopen on April 27.[470] This move has brought
widespread condemnation from inside and outside Georgia,[470][471] with Atlanta Mayor Keisha
Lance Bottoms saying she will "continue to ask Atlantans to please stay at
home" and Stacy Abrams, the 2018 Democratic candidate for governor,
calling reopening "dangerously incompetent.[470] The Institute
for Health Metrics and Evaluation's April 21 prediction lists the
earliest safe date for Georgia to shift from social distancing measures as June
19.[472] As of April 21, the state had
more than 20,000 confirmed cases.[473]
Covid-19
cases – US 1,061,028 cases, 57,137 deaths GA
26,269 cases, 1,132 deaths
Life
in April – I did
not go any where at all except went to Kroger every other weekend. Kroger and most of the grocery stores started
to change hours of operation as well. Kroger
no longer offered 24-hr service but spent end of the day each day to cleanup. It started to have senior hours first from
7:00 – 8:00. Besides, it also asked
customers to wear mask. Maybe about 70% customers put mask on there. I stayed away when I heard someone coughed in
the store.
May
May 26, 2020, the George Floyd protests began in Minneapolis. Protesters also gathered in Atlanta.
Covid-19
cases – US 1,774,034 cases, 97,959 deaths GA
47,063 cases, 2,053 deaths
Life
in May – Last day of school was May 20, 2020. Nothing much just worked from home. I got to
talk to my homestay mom and dad in Japan. Mom was about 74 and dad was about 80+. I was glad they were doing fine. They lived in Itoshima city in Fukuoka prefecture.
They said they could see the beach and ocean from where they live. Perfect! I was planning to go see them in 2021
actually but well, I needed to wait for the virus to be under control first.
I posted in my neighbor’s Facebook group if anyone wanted free face masks. I sew about 35 masks for my neighbors and sew
about 60 more masks for my relatives and friends in NYC.
Jasmine saw Dr. Devito, Spine doctor and we learned that she did not need surgery and she could stop wearing brace. What a BLESSING!
June
June 5, 2020, the Pentagon reports biggest increase in the
Department of Defense since mid- April on COVID-19 cases bringing the number up
to 10,462. The DoD includes military members, their dependents, contractors and
civilians. The United States Navy remains as the most affected Branch as of
June 5.
Covid-19
cases – US 2,588,017 cases, 117,028 deaths GA
81,291 cases, 2,805 deaths
Life
in June – Jasmine worked on her 2 summer
courses; Health and Geometry 2. Jasmine and I went to Costco for new pairs of
glasses. Yes with masks up. I also tried
to join Nihon Go Ei Go Kai which is online Zoom meeting to brush up my Japanese
language a bit.
July
July 28, 2020, the CDC calls for reopening American schools, in a
statement written by a White House working group that includes Redfield but has
minimal representation from other CDC officials.
Cobb County planned to open the 1st
semester on August 17, 2020 and would reopen as phases but as for when it
depended on the scientific numbers such as hospital bed occupancy rate, and
such.
Covid-19
cases – US 4,483,612 cases, 142,064 deaths GA
186,352 cases, 3,752 deaths
Life
in July – Jasmine and I went to
IKEA. We had to wait in a long line but not that bad. We finally got pieces
ready to build a perfect fit table for her room.
August
Lassiter High School started remote
learning on August 17, 2020.
Covid-19
cases – US 5,925,031 cases, 171,957 deaths GA
270,471 cases, 5,632 deaths
Life
in August – School started again. New laptop for Jasmine arrived in time before
school started. Got my piano tuned for the very first time after … 8 years? The tuner said it was not in a good shape any
more several notes could no longer be tuned.
Too sad…. I have to think about what to do then.
September
Covid-19
cases – US 7,093,786 cases, 194,780 deaths GA
318,026 cases, 7,021 deaths
Life
in September – I started to do music collaboration with my friend
in Thailand. I played piano and she sang. She also composed her own lyrics and melody
and I used a magic wand to turn it into music sheet. It was kind of fun trying many music maker
software. We were using Brandlab to record our tracks and I was using
Cloudscore as my music sheet helper. Wow, that Cloudscore did voice recognition
either from human voice or from instruments and translated it into notes on
music sheet. It was not perfect but It did
help and I felt amazed with this kind of technology. With Cloudscore, I could compose piano notes
for both left and right hands and let it record and analyzed the sound of my
notes and put them in music sheet. Amazing right? I learned not to play many notes all at once
as the software was still not good to differentiate the mixed sound of many
notes altogether. Then, later, I could
use manual mode to add and adjust the notes and anything on the sheet.
The 1st Presidential debate was on
September 29, 2020. It was the worst debate ever. President Trump kept talking over Joe Biden.
October
On
October 2, 2020, President Donald
Trump and First
Lady Melania Trump tested positive for COVID-19, among other officials
during the White House COVID-19 outbreak.
Cobb Count schools started phase
opening. For those selecting
face-to-face, Phase 1 elementary school students went back to school on October
5, 2020, Phase 2, middle school students went back to school on October 19,
2020, and Phase 3, high school students went back to school on November 5,
2020.
Covid-19
cases – US 8,914,806 cases, 217,905 deaths GA
306,790 cases, 7,979 deaths
Life
in October – Got flu shot. ð
I listened to President Trump’s Townhall meeting and Joe Biden’s
Townhall meeting on October 15, 2020. No
debate that day because President Trump refused to do virtual debate due to his
Covid-19. There was the last debate
between the two on October 22, 2020. This time was much better than the 1st
time. Anyway, I did not think Joe Biden’s
economic policy on his proposed new minimum wage $15 could buy-in congressmen.
November
Covid-19
cases – US 13,105,870 cases, 253,192 deaths GA
422,133 cases, 8,778 deaths
Life
in November – My friend, Duang and her husband, Dan visited on November
27, 2020, the day after Thanksgiving. They lived in North Carolina and they
came to visit their relatives’ in Georgia every year, so, they stopped by my
house every visit as well. It was always good to see my good old friends.
Presidential election happened on November 2, 2020. Georgia was a battle ground state and required recount. In the end, Joe Biden won about 12,000 votes or just 0.2%. It was the first time after 28 years Georgia turned into blue state. And in the end, Joe Biden won over President Trump; 306 votes VS 232 votes.
December
On December 11, 2020, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration
issued the first emergency use authorization (EUA) for a vaccine for the
prevention of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute
respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) in individuals 16 years of age
and older. The emergency use authorization allows the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19
Vaccine to be distributed in the U.S.
On December 14, 2020, The Georgia Department of Public Health (DPH) received
the first shipments of COVID-19 vaccine 5,850 doses from Pfizer for administration
in Georgia.
On December 18, 2020, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration
issued an emergency use authorization (EUA) for the second vaccine for the
prevention of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute
respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The emergency use
authorization allows the Moderna COVID-19 Vaccine to be distributed in the U.S
for use in individuals 18 years of age and older.
On December 24, following concerns over a new SARS-CoV-2 variant from
the United Kingdom, the CDC announced testing
requirements for American passengers traveling from the UK, to be administered within 72
hours, starting on December 28.
Covid-19
cases – US 19,005,788 cases, 326,867 deaths GA
488,338 cases, 9,302 deaths
Life
in December – Jasmine got her driving learner permit. Wow, she can learn how to drive now. And Yay! Finally vaccines
arrived as the best new year gift ever for all mankind. There is always light
at the end of the tunnel, so, never give up our hope. Stay healthy and stay strong and we can get
through this tough time together!
https://www.wusa9.com/article/news/health/coronavirus/coronavirus-for-6-months-in-us/507-a1e04038-1bab-4f6c-8d77-440c3004619b
https://www.nytimes.com/article/coronavirus-timeline.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/COVID-19_pandemic_on_cruise_ships
https://people.com/health/initial-cdc-coronavirus-tests-failed-contamination-inside-labs/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_the_COVID-19_pandemic_in_the_United_States
https://www.cnn.com/2020/04/11/us/hart-island-coronavirus-burials/index.html
https://dph.georgia.gov/press-releases/2020-12-14/first-doses-covid-vaccine-arrive-georgia
