The way we were: News from a week in 2020

Kirk Ericson | Feb 24, 20220

What do you remember of the news from the last week of February and the first day of March 2020? If you’re normal, not much. So let’s leave 2022 for a moment and refresh our memories. Let’s fall back into early 2020 and remember the way we were:

Monday, Feb. 24, 2020: “Harvard epidemiology professor Marc Lipsitch is exacting in his diction, even for an epidemiologist. Twice in our conversation he started to say something, then paused and said, ‘Actually, let me start again.’ So it’s striking when one of the points he wanted to get exactly right was this: ‘I think the likely outcome is that it (COVID-19) will ultimately not be containable.’ ” — The Atlantic

Tuesday, Feb. 25: “Moderna Therapeutics, a biotech company based in Cambridge, Massachusetts, has shipped the first batches of its COVID-19 vaccine. The vaccine was created just 42 days after the genetic sequence of the COVID-19 virus, called SARS-CoV-2, was released by Chinese researchers in mid-January. The first vials were sent to the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland, which will ready the vaccine for human testing as early as April.” — TIME magazine

Wednesday, Feb. 26: “Russian President Vladimir Putin says the opposition provoked police violence during mass protests in Moscow last summer, with the sole aim of showing ‘what kind of heroes they are and that they will protect the interests of citizens with the same zeal if they get into power.’ In an interview with the state-run Tass news agency, another segment of which was released Wednesday, Putin said the protesters blocked traffic in order to ‘provoke security forces to swing their batons. If people are acting within the existing rules and laws, who’s going to swing the baton? On the contrary, (the police) would protect them,’ ” Putin said. — The Associated Press

Thursday, Feb. 27: “[Ex-President Donald] Trump spent close to an hour discussing the virus threat, after a week of sharp stock market losses over the health crisis and concern within the administration that a growing outbreak could affect his re-election. He blamed the Democrats for the stock market slide, saying, ‘I think the financial markets are very upset when they look at the Democrat candidates standing on that stage making fools out of themselves.’ And he shifted to defend his overall record and predict a win in November.” — PBS News Hour

Friday, Feb. 28: “The novel coronavirus has an unlikely victim — one of the world’s most popular beers. Corona has become the subject of memes and videos shared on social media as the toll from the virus climbs worldwide. Reports of an increase in online searches for ‘corona beer virus’ and ‘beer coronavirus’ show the Mexican beer hasn’t been able to escape the association. The so-called purchase intent among adults in the U.S. has plunged to the lowest in two years …” — The Economic Times

Saturday, Feb. 29: “A Seattle man in his 50s with underlying health conditions but no known exposure to a coronavirus patient has died, marking the first reported death from COVID-19 in the United States, Washington health officials said Saturday. More than 50 people in a Seattle-area nursing facility were reported sick and being tested for the virus. West Coast health officials are concerned that a growing number of people are being infected despite not having traveled in areas with outbreaks or being exposed to anyone who has.” — The Los Angeles Times

Sunday, March 1: “People packed Portland-area stores after the first case of COVID-19 coronavirus was announced in Oregon. FOX 12 viewers sent in photos showing long lines and some empty store shelves. The hottest-selling items appeared to be hand sanitizer and cleaning wipes. Shoppers were lined up outside Costco in Tigard before the store opened. At the Costco in Wilsonville, shoppers with full carts lined up all the way to back of the store.” — KPTV news station

Contact Kirk Ericson at [email protected]