March 11, 2020: The Day Everything Changed

A year into the coronavirus pandemic, the enormous changes in our lives have become unremarkable: The collection of fabric masks. Visits with friends or family only in small outdoor gatherings. Working or learning from home. Downtowns deserted at noon on a weekday.

While some changes happened gradually, there was one day that marked the beginning of the new normal, though that wasn't clear as the day began.

March 11, 2020. On that day in the United States, the pandemic future arrived all at once.

March 11 was a Wednesday. Joe Biden had won primaries the night before in Idaho, Michigan, Mississippi and Missouri, putting him on a path toward clinching the Democratic nomination. Bernie Sanders said he was staying in the race, despite his disappointing results.

The big news in the morning — and what was expected to be the top headline of the day — was the sentencing of movie mogul Harvey Weinstein. Sitting in a Manhattan courtroom, Weinstein was sentenced to 23 years in prison for rape and sexual abuse.

Two days earlier, stocks had tumbled in reaction to Saudi Arabia cutting the price of oil, spurring the market's worst drop since 2008.

And the coronavirus — which had already sparked lockdowns in China and Italy — had become a major concern in the U.S. The first case in the U.S. was announced on Jan. 21 in Everett, Wash. On Jan. 30, the World Health Organization declared a global health emergency.

Some schools in the U.S. had already closed, affecting about 850,000 students. And some Americans were trying to figure out whether to cancel the expensive cruises they had booked — days earlier, the State Department had put out a warning against such travel, following outbreaks on several ships.