logoCOVID-19 History

August 16, 2020

The U.S. passes 5.34 million confirmed COVID-19 cases, according to CDC figures that Reuters reports. A report published by Independent Science News suggests the virus may have first appeared in a Chinese mineshaft in 2012, when miners fell ill after clearing bat feces, rather than at the Wuhan wet market in 2019, a challenge to the official origin story that the mainstream coverage treats cautiously if it covers it at all.

Mask wearing becomes more partisan in 2020 than it was during the 1918 flu pandemic, historians tell CNN, as the divide between mandated and voluntary compliance hardens along political lines. Vaccine trial organizers struggle to recruit Black and Latino participants, a failure that researchers warn could delay a vaccine, even as the same communities bear the highest infection rates.

U.S. CDC reports 5,340,232 coronavirus cases
U.S. CDC reports 5,340,232 cor...
Reuters
Coronavirus first appeared among workers clearing bat faeces from Chinese mineshaft back in 2012 and may not have come from Wuhan market, scientists say
Coronavirus first appeared amo...
Scientists believe the virus could have began in the Mojiang mine in China's Yunnan province eight years ago after six miners fell ill with a pneumonia-like virus resulting in three deaths eight years ago.
Daily Mail
Coronavirus accelerates a mental-health crisis for Canada’s indigenous youth
Coronavirus accelerates a ment...
CNN
The Pandemic Is Changing How People Get Around
The Pandemic Is Changing How P...
Among the things the coronavirus pandemic is changing is how people get around. People are walking, biking and driving more, but using buses, trains and Uber less.
NPR
5 lasting changes from the COVID-19 pandemic
5 lasting changes from the COV...
The world has changed and it will remain different in many ways.
ABC
How the COVID-19 pandemic and George Floyd protests could give rise to terrorism
How the COVID-19 pandemic and ...
Our modern plague could spur apocalyptic and nihilistic thinking. Deprived of normal routines and relationships, people are disoriented, disillusioned and isolated.
NBC
Pandemic denial: Why some people can’t accept Covid-19’s realities
Pandemic denial: Why some peop...
CNN
Face masks: in 2020, ‘mask slacking’ is more partisan than in 1918, historians say
Face masks: in 2020, ‘mask sla...
CNN
Covid-19 vaccine trials have been slow to recruit Black and Latino people – and that could delay a vaccine
Covid-19 vaccine trials have b...
CNN