December 29 2020
January-February; the year begins with news of the pandemic
2020 was a year like no other, featuring news events that few if any could have ever predicted when we all popped open champaign bottles and sang a few bars of "Auld Lang Syne." By late December, people watching the news had heard about a new novel coronavirus that was spreading in China, but there was little worry about the illness making landfall in the U.S.
However, as the winter progressed, more and more countries in the Eastern Hemisphere faced outbreaks and news grew about how contagious and deadly the virus could be. Then, in late February, cases began to emerge in Oregon, and as the calendar flipped to March, the impact of the illness, COVID-19, escalated quickly.