Five Years On: Reflecting on the Initial U.S. Response to Coronavirus

It’s been five years since COVID-19 began its disruptive journey across the United States, catching officials, politicians, and the public by surprise. In early 2020, much of the nation’s attention was still on the upcoming presidential election, blissfully unaware of the storm brewing.

Back then, then-President Donald Trump made bold statements at CPAC, saying of his opponent, "Joe is not going to be running the government. He’s just going to be sitting in a home someplace." Meanwhile, Democratic nominee Joe Biden returned fire, accusing Trump of mishandling the virus: "He is making us more unsafe the way he's responding to the coronavirus." Oh, the political sparring – even a pandemic couldn’t slow it down.

Meanwhile, public confusion reigned. How contagious was the virus? How deadly? And could masks really save us? Dr. Anthony Fauci, a name we’d soon hear daily, calmly explained that masks were primarily meant to protect others if the wearer was infected – though at the time, it sounded like the jury was still out on their effectiveness for personal protection.

As the virus began its spread, New York City reported its first case, with Governor Andrew Cuomo ominously stating, "It wasn't a question of if, but when. This is New York. We're a gateway to the world." The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) confirmed just 60 cases nationwide at the time, but fears mounted that the U.S. could face the rapid spread seen in Italy and South Korea.

Panic started to creep in. Masks and sanitizer flew off the shelves. Events were canceled left and right – from South by Southwest in Texas to the Ultra Music Festival in Miami. Even sports were hit hard, with the NHL and NBA suspending their seasons. As one distraught sports fan put it, "What are we going to do now? There’s no soccer. There’s no football. There’s no basketball." Priorities, right?

President Trump, true to his unconventional style, joked about missing the act of touching his own face. "I haven’t touched my face in weeks and weeks. I miss it," he quipped. But the gravity of the situation was becoming undeniable, with Vice President Mike Pence and other officials scrambling to provide resources and testing to the hardest-hit states like Washington.

By mid-March, the Trump administration’s tone had shifted to urgency. Americans were advised to avoid gatherings of more than ten people and steer clear of bars, restaurants, and nonessential travel. St. Patrick’s Day celebrations were scrapped, cherry blossom crowds in D.C. thinned out, and spring breakers in Florida found their partying options severely limited. One bewildered spring breaker lamented, "What is there to do here other than go to the bars or the beach? And they’re closing all of it." (Oh, the tragedy.)

States began rolling out shutdown orders, hospitals scrambled to set up extra capacity, and the economy started to shudder under the strain. President Trump warned, "We cannot let the cure be worse than the problem itself." It was a stark reminder of the tightrope leaders were walking between public health and economic fallout.

Looking back now, it’s clear that the initial response to the pandemic was a chaotic mix of confusion, fear, and resilience. While some moments were laughably surreal (like the suggestion to bow "Eastern style" instead of shaking hands), others were sobering landmarks in a crisis that would redefine the world for years to come.