The virus appeared in the Chinese city of Wuhan last month and has since infected hundreds of people around the world, including three confirmed cases in the United States. The death toll in China has risen to more than 50. (Credit: CNN) The Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Center for Health Security compiled a timeline of selected events since the onset of the pandemic: December 31: Wuhan Municipal Health Commission publishes the initial report of unidentified pneumonia, potentially linked to a local market January 6: US CDC issues a Level 1 travel watch for Wuhan, China January 11: First reported COVID-19 death in China January 13: First COVID-19 case reported outside of China January 21: First COVID-19 case reported in the US January 23: China implements “lockdown” in Wuhan January 24: First imported COVID-19 cases reported in Europe (France) January 27: US CDC issues Level 3 travel warning for China, recommending against non-essential travel January 27: First documented SARS-CoV-2 transmission in Europe (Germany) January 29: First COVID-19 cases reported in Eastern Mediterranean Region (United Arab Emirates) January 30: WHO declares COVID-19 a Public Health Emergency of International Concern January 30: US CDC confirms first domestic transmission of SARS-CoV-2 January 31: US implements travel restrictions for Mainland China February 5: The Diamond Princess cruise ship is quarantined in Yokohama, Japan, due to an ongoing COVID-19 outbreak onboard that resulted in at least 712 confirmed cases, including 9 deaths February 25: First COVID-19 case reported in the African Region (Algeria)* February 27: South Korea surpasses China as #1 globally in terms of daily COVID-19 incidence February 29: US implements travel restrictions for Iran March 4: Seattle and King County, Washington (US), advises high-risk individuals to avoid large gatherings March 8: Italy implements “lockdown” for affected areas of the Lombardy region in Northern Italy March 10: Italy expands “lockdown” measures to the entire country March 11: US implements travel restrictions for all of Europe March 11: WHO declares COVID-19 a pandemic March 13: US declares the COVID-19 epidemic to be a national emergency March 14: US implements travel restrictions for the UK and Ireland March 15: National “lockdown” goes into effect in Spain March 16: Six counties in the San Francisco Bay Area, California (US), issue the country’s first shelter-in-place orders March 18: The WHO announces the SOLIDARITY Trial, a global collaboration to conduct clinical trials for prospective COVID-19 medical countermeasures March 19: California (US) issues the first statewide “stay at home” order March 23: The University of Oxford (UK) begins enrolling patients for the RECOVERY Trial, a nationwide clinical trial effort in the UK for COVID-19 MCMs March 24: National “lockdown” ordered in India March 24: The International Olympic Committee announces that the 2020 Olympic Games, scheduled to be hosted in Japan, are postponed March 27: US CDC expands travel restrictions to cover all other countries March 28: US CDC issues domestic travel advisory for New York, New Jersey, and Connecticut March 28: Italy surpasses China as #1 globally in terms of cumulative COVID-19 incidence March 29: US surpasses Italy as #1 globally in terms of cumulative COVID-19 incidence (and remains #1 today) April 4: 1 million global cases May 15: US government unveils Operation Warp Speed, a program to drive development and production of medical countermeasures against COVID-19 May 17: WHO reports more than 100,000 new cases in a single day May 23: 5 million global cases May 24: US implements travel restrictions for Brazil May 28: US surpasses 100,000 cumulative reported COVID-19 deaths May 29: New York (US) enters Phase 1 of recovery (NYC on June 8) June 8: New Zealand declares SARS-CoV-2 eliminated June 11: European Commission recommends that European countries remove internal border restrictions by June 15 to enable travel within the continent June 29: 10 million global cases June 30: 500,000 global deaths June 30: European Council announces that European countries would lift travel restrictions for 15 countries beginning July 1 July 2: Florida tops 10,000 cases reported in a single day *Cases had been previously reported in Egypt, but Egypt is part of the Eastern Mediterranean Region.