March 11, 2020: The Day COVID-19 Became Real for America, and What’s Happened Since
The first time the world found out about the coronavirus now known as COVID-19 was through an announcement of the first case in the Wuhan province of China on the last day of 2019. That was the start of the virus that has now spread around the world. But COVID-19 didn’t really hit home for Americans until March 11, 2020 — a day that changed the country. One year ago Thursday, the World Health Organization declared the fast-spreading outbreak to be a pandemic. Before then, there were more cases in Europe than China, with Italy hardest hit. That soon changed. The WHO announcement didn’t make many waves in the United States that morning. But later that evening, it was the sports world that gave Americans their first glimpse of how everyone’s world was about to turn upside down. Viewers on ESPN saw history unfold at Chesapeake Energy Arena in Oklahoma City, where three referees from the National Basketball Association were in an intense courtside conversation with Utah Jazz coach Quin Snyder and his Oklahoma City Thunder counterpart, Billy Donovan. Minutes before their teams were scheduled to play, Jazz center Rudy Gobert tested positive for COVID. NBA Commissioner Adam Silver made a nearly instantaneous decision to shut the entire league down, sending fans in Oklahoma City home with scant explanation. Other leagues quickly followed suit. The National Hockey League suspended play the next day, Major League Baseball canceled the start of spring training, Major League Soccer halted its 2021 season two weeks after it began. The PGA Tour halted the Players Championship golf tournament after one round of play, and NASCAR called off its weekend of racing at Atlanta. College sports were also stopped, with the NCAA men’s and women’s national basketball championships eventually canceled and all spring sports wiped out entirely. The shutdowns marked the beginning of a series of events that changed virtually every facet of American life. In the days to come, schools of all levels were closed while administrators figured out what to do next. Churches moved their weekend services to livestreaming video before empty sanctuaries or canceled the services altogether; participation plummeted in the weeks to come. Governments put severe limitations on business operations, especially retailers and hospitality industries. Restaurants, in particular, suddenly saw customers banned from their dining rooms, forcing some to close — sometimes permanently. Food and grocery delivery became the norm, with companies such as DoorDash and GrubHub thriving while other businesses were in peril. Read more.
