It’s been five years since the first confirmed case of COVID-19 on American soil. On January 20, 2020, a 35-year-old man in Snohomish County, Washington, was diagnosed with the novel coronavirus after returning from a family trip to Wuhan, China.
Since then, over 1.2 million Americans have died from the virus and more than 7 million worldwide. The pandemic has led to significant public health transformation and marked by uncertainty.
While vaccines have been developed to combat the virus, experts say it’s unlikely to disappear anytime soon. “The virus is here and it’s here to stay,” says Dr. Paul Sax. “What has changed dramatically is the case severity.”
Symptoms of COVID-19 may now resemble other common seasonal illnesses, making diagnosis more challenging. The virus can be virtually indistinguishable from flu or respiratory viruses.
Despite declining deaths since early 2022, people are still getting infected. To combat this, the federal government has provided free rapid at-home tests through COVIDtests.gov. Over 900 million tests have been distributed nationwide.
Recent data from WastewaterSCAN shows high levels of COVID-19 in sewage across the country, although levels have decreased since last winter’s peaks.
Source: https://eu.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2025/01/20/covid-19-five-years-first-case-2025/77744363007