The COVID-19 History Project

This really happened.

This Day in COVID: June 9, 2020

Mass Decarceration, COVID-19, and Justice in America

COVID-19 and the horrific murders of George Floyd and other black Americans have amplified the desperate need for the US justice system to be radically reimagined.

SSIR

Chicago Tackles COVID-19 Disparities In Hard-Hit Black And Latino Neighborhoods

The mayor calls the coronavirus a public health 'red alarm.' She has deployed a Racial Equity Rapid Response Team to fight the disease in black and Latinx neighborhoods.

NPR

Modelers Suggest Pandemic Lockdowns Saved Millions From Dying Of COVID-19

Researchers cast a backward look to see what might have happened during the first months of the coronavirus crisis without any preventive measures.

NPR

Widespread mask-wearing could prevent COVID-19 second waves: study

Reuters

COVID-19 Infections And Deaths Are Higher Among Those With Intellectual Disabilities

There's growing evidence of high rates of death from COVID-19 for a population that doesn't get a lot of attention: people with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

NPR

Half of Californians live in areas with worrying resurgence of coronavirus

Reuters

After COVID-19, green investment must deliver jobs to get political traction

Analysis of past recoveries shows a low-carbon reboot matters more for climate than does the brief emissions crash.

Nature

Moscow's lockdown ends as coronavirus cases in Russia pass 485,000

Reuters

Can a Vaccine for Covid-19 Be Developed in Record Time?

A discussion moderated by Siddhartha Mukherjee.

New York Times

The Coronavirus Has Become Terrorists’ Combat Weapon of Choice

National Interest

CrossFit CEO Greg Glassman resigns after offensive George Floyd and coronavirus tweets

Fitness program lost key partnerships, endorsements and the business of hundreds of affiliated gyms around the world after Glassman tweets

The Guardian

More masks than jellyfish': Environmental groups worry about coronavirus waste in oceans

USA Today

Voting machines and coronavirus force long lines on Georgia voters

AJC

Animals and coronavirus, help for African labs and a short flu season

The latest science news, in brief.

Nature

WHO walks back comments on asymptomatic coronavirus spread, says much is still unknown

The WHO scrambled to clarify its comments that transmission of the coronavirus by people who never developed symptoms is 'very rare.'

CNBC

Connecting the world to combat coronavirus

WHO initiatives to motivate and mobilize people to Be Ready to beat COVID-19, and to support the COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund.

WHO

Special Report: COVID deepens the other opioid crisis - a shortage of hospital painkillers

Reuters

Why protesters want to defund the police after George Floyd's death

Inside the debate over defunding police across the country in light of the George Flood protests.

ABC

Protesters, Councilmember Sawant pour into City Hall Tuesday night; ACLU sues Seattle for ‘unnecessary violence’

Seattle Times

We are still in a pandemic': In some states, summer months may not provide a hoped-for lull

The virus 'does what it's supposed to do — find a host and replicate,' one expert said.

NBC

Coronavirus: Satellite traffic images may suggest virus hit Wuhan earlier

A surge in hospital traffic may indicate the virus hit China earlier than reported, a study suggests.

BBC

After Elon Musk re-opened Tesla’s factory in defiance of lockdown, workers test positive for COVID-19

The Hill

WHO Creates 'Confusion' About Asymptomatic Spread. Here's What We Know

That's the word some doctors used for a World Health Organization statement. At issue: 1) How many people are infected with COVID-19 but show no symptoms? and 2) Can asymptomatic people infect others?

NPR

Dr. Anthony Fauci says coronavirus turned ‘out to be my worst nightmare’ and it ‘isn’t over’

Dr. Anthony Fauci says Covid-19 turned out to be his 'worst nightmare' come to life as the coronavirus continues to rapidly spread across the globe.

CNBC

She Does, He Doesn’t: The Gender Divide in Mask-Wearing

Why do so many men seem to go mask-less even while their female partners are wearing one?

Vogue

Our Mission

The COVID-19 History Project is a curated archive of the events and policy decisions surrounding the emergence of COVID-19.

The pandemic era of 2020-2022 saw massive increases in restrictions on daily life—enforced by the government and by social stigma—accompanied social protests that roiled cities worldwide

In the United States alone, trillions of dollars were spent by the federal government to offset the forced closure of businesses and the devastation of normal life.

The impacts of these policy decisions are still being felt today.

Some would like us to forget the actions and people that played a significant role during the pandemic.

But we of the COVID-19 History Project don't want to forget. Through our work, we hope there will always be an archive to learn from and interpret this fascinating, disturbing, time in world history.

The Timeline

In order to learn from the mistakes of the past, and give COVID-19 decision makers the credit—both good and bad—they deserve, we have compiled a media timeline from every day of the pandemic.

We have endeavored to make the timeline comprehensive without being duplicative, following the major trends as they unfolded.

We provided analyses for each month highlighting major events, but encourage readers to make their own conclusions about these events as well.

This Day in COVID: June 9, 2021

Details

Haiti fights large COVID-19 spike as it awaits vaccines

Haiti has long perplexed experts with seemingly low infection and death rates from COVID-19 despite its rickety public health system, a total lack of vaccines and a widespread disdain for safety measures.

AP News

'This IS INSANE': Africa desperately short of COVID vaccine

In the global race to vaccinate people against COVID-19, Africa is tragically at the back of the pack.

AP News

Study sheds new light on COVID-19 and mass incarceration

Results of a new Harvard paper are offering lessons on pandemic preparedness and providing another argument against mass incarceration.

Harvard Gazette

Why big pharma had a responsibility to profit from the pandemic

The Conversation

Fauci: Attacks on me are really also ‘attacks on science’

The Hill

Pandemic accelerated UK's shift online, says Ofcom

Online shopping soared, topping Â£110bn in sales, while adult sites were visited by half of over-18s.

BBC

What Covid-19's long tail is revealing about disease

Many months after their initial infection, some Covid-19 patients are still suffering, but scientists are starting to unravel the cause and treatments for long Covid.

BBC

Coronavirus: Auckland ranked most liveable city as pandemic shifts list

One New Zealand city tops an annual list that has been shaken by the coronavirus pandemic.

BBC

Pandemics and protests: America has experienced racism like this before

Jennifer D. Roberts writes that the summer 2020 protests mirror a place that we have seen before in this country -- that epidemics (e.g., coronavirus, police brutality), followed by racial violence are embedded in the American DNA.

Brookings

4 coronavirus variants can make people sicker or spread faster, including the Delta variant first found in India. Here's what variants are, and why experts are so concerned about them.

Coronavirus 'variants of concern' include the Delta coronavirus variant first found in India, which is more infectious than the original strain.

Business Insider

All the coronavirus particles in the world combined weigh no more than 22 pounds, a new study estimates

Coronavirus particles, called virions, are exceedingly small. All the virions in one infected person probably weigh less than a poppy seed.

Business Insider

Fauci blasts 'preposterous' Covid conspiracies, accuses his critics of 'attacks on science'

'A lot of what you're seeing as attacks on me, quite frankly, are attacks on science,' Dr. Anthony Fauci told NBC News' Chuck Todd in a fiery interview.

CNBC

College interrupted: Many students chose to take time off instead of remote learning during the coronavirus pandemic

When college campuses closed due to the coronavirus pandemic, many students chose gap semesters or even gap years instead of remote learning. This is part of CNBC's College Voices series

CNBC

EU Digital Covid Certificate: Everything you need to know | CNN

CNN

Does exercise help protect against severe COVID-19? - Harvard Health

A study examining data from a large health care provider on more than 48,000 people who had COVID-19 found that those were consistently inactive had a significantly higher risk of hospitalization o...

Harvard Health

Conspiracy theorists think Covid vaccine makes you magnetic

MSNBC's Brian Williams looks at the latest Covid vaccination conspiracy theory that went viral after an Ohio legislature committee meeting where a doctor and a nurse stated that the injections are magnetizing people - something that is completely false.

MSNBC News

Local Lockdowns Brought Fast Global Ozone Reductions, NASA Finds - NASA

When lockdowns during the coronavirus pandemic cut local nitrogen oxide emissions, the effect on ozone pollution was global and unexpectedly rapid.

NASA .gov

Will the pandemic crush Nepal’s trekking industry?

With nearly all tourism in the region halted, Sherpa communities here face a precarious future.

National Geographic

COVID’s cardiac connection

Coronavirus infections might cause lasting harm to the heart, even in those who have never had symptoms.

Nature

Embrace the WHO’s new naming system for coronavirus variants

The World Health Organization’s system should have come earlier. Now, media and policymakers need to get behind it.

Nature

The four most urgent questions about long COVID

Scientists are starting to get insights into the lingering disorder that affects some people infected with SARS-CoV-2 — but many mysteries remain unsolved.

Nature

How a rampant coronavirus variant blunts our immune defences

The rapid spread of the B.1.1.7 variant — also called Alpha — might be linked to its ability to dampen the body’s initial immune response.

Nature

China is vaccinating a staggering 20 million people a day

Scientists are impressed by China’s juggernaut of a vaccination drive, through which it is currently administering nearly 60% of all COVID-19 vaccine doses globally.

Nature

Clinical and molecular characteristics of COVID-19 patients with persistent SARS-CoV-2 infection - Nature Communications

Some patients with COVID-19 fail to clear the viral infection quickly, yet our understanding for the underlying immune characteristics is still lacking. Here the authors use single-cell RNA sequencing and other data form such patients to show that persistent infection is associated with immune suppression and reduced expression of ribosomal protein genes.

Nature

Immune memory in individuals with COVID-19 - Nature Cell Biology

COVID-19 has led to a global pandemic, but the long-term immunological effects of the infection are only partially understood. A new study now provides important new clues by describing the transcriptional and epigenetic processes behind the immune memory of both adaptive and innate immune cells in individuals who have recovered from COVID-19.

Nature

COVID-19 vaccination and immune thrombocytopenia - Nature Medicine

A prospective cohort analysis finds a link between the ChAdOx1 vaccine and an autoimmune disorder known as immune thrombocytopenia—but questions remain and causality is yet to be established.

Nature

A single transcript for the prognosis of disease severity in COVID-19 patients - Scientific Reports

Nature

Fear of severe Covid risks prompted many to lose weight, despite challenges

Across the country, countless people of all body sizes have either gained or lost weight during the pandemic.

NBC News

DC Hospitals to Require Employees Get COVID-19 Vaccine

Nearly all hospitals in Washington, D.C., will make it mandatory for their employees to be vaccinated against COVID-19, health officials announced Wednesday. The District of Columbia Hospital Association said in a news release “nearly all health systems and hospitals in the District of Columbia will each set a date after which vaccination against COVID-19 will be a condition of employment.”…

NBC4 Washington

Marjorie Taylor Greene Says Fauci Liable for Creating COVID-19 'Bioweapon'

Newsweek

There's A Stark Red-Blue Divide When It Comes To States' Vaccination Rates

All of the states with the highest adult vaccination rates went to President Biden in the 2020 election. But the vaccine divide is not just about politics.

NPR

Hey Washingtonians! Get A Vaccine. Smoke A Joint.

In Washington, adults can now walk away from their COVID-19 vaccine appointment with a free, pre-rolled joint. Other states are also offering incentives to try to convince people to get the shot.

NPR

China’s Omnivorous Markets Are in the Eye of a Lethal Outbreak Once Again Published 2020

The New York Times

What Does It Mean for California to Be in a State of Emergency? Published 2020

The New York Times

Far-Right Germans Try to Storm Reichstag as Virus Protests Escalate Published 2020

The New York Times

A European Official Reveals a Secret: The U.S. Is Paying More for Coronavirus Vaccines Published 2020

The New York Times

How Beijing Turned China’s Covid-19 Tragedy to Its Advantage Published 2021

The New York Times

Uber and Lyft will provide free rides to vaccination sites until July 4, Biden says. Published 2021

The New York Times

World’s Most Vaccinated Nation Is Spooked by Covid Spike Published 2021

The New York Times

Andy Slavitt stepping down from White House Covid-19 response role

Politico

Explainer: China’s Mojiang mine and its role in the origins of COVID-19

Reuters

Why We Don’t Know the Animal Origins of the Coronavirus

Scientific American

The Fundamental Question of the Pandemic Is Shifting

We understand how this will end. But who bears the risk that remains?

The Atlantic

This Pandemic Isn’t Over

The smallpox epidemic of the 1860s offers us a valuable, if disconcerting, clue about how epidemics actually end.

The Atlantic

Leading biologist dampens his ‘smoking gun’ Covid lab leak theory

Nobel laureate David Baltimore says he overstated case, and the origins of the virus are still unknown

The Guardian