Covid-19

The COVID-19 epidemic, known as the coronavirus pandemic, began in late 2019 in Wuhan, Hubei Province, China. The first cases of the disease were linked to a seafood market in the city, which was later closed as part of efforts to contain the outbreak.

The virus responsible for COVID-19 is a novel coronavirus called SARS-CoV-2, related to the viruses that cause severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) and Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS). The first disease cases were reported to the World Health Organization (WHO) on December 31, 2019, and were initially thought to be pneumonia of unknown cause.

Epidemic Beginnings

As the number of cases of COVID-19 increased rapidly in China, the Chinese government took many steps to try to control the outbreak, including placing Wuhan and other cities under strict lockdowns. However, the virus soon began to spread beyond China, with the first confirmed cases outside the country reported in Thailand and Japan in mid-January 2020.

By early February 2020, the WHO had declared the COVID-19 outbreak a public health emergency of international concern. By mid-March, the organisation had declared it a pandemic, as cases and deaths continued to rise worldwide.

Calm Before the Lockdown

Sheryl and I slowly approached the epidemic. Our intellect and educational backgrounds told us to use caution in an unknown epidemic that began in Washington State. We quarantined together as the epidemic began. Our sense of adventure pulled against our sense of caution.

The first known case of Covid-19 in the United States was identified in Washington State on January 20, 2020. The patient, a man in his 30s who had recently returned from a trip to Wuhan, China, the outbreak’s epicentre, was treated at Providence Regional Medical Center in Everett.

We travelled up the Kitsap Peninsula to Bainbridge Island and crossed Puget Sound to Seattle. We did not know what to expect with the epidemic.

End of Normal

In Seattle, the large city looked empty. We found no traffic on the roads, empty parking lots, and unvisited businesses. We parked in front of Pike Market and noticed how empty the place looked. This moment was the end of normalcy. We ate dinner at a restaurant right before the order to shut down public businesses.