20/20 RECENT REPORTS

During holiday celebrations, deadly virus was already on the march

U.S. health officials saw an email alert on New Year’s Eve that would become the nightmare they had all trained for. The government launched into action but the virus was already in Central China.

Jul 29

Everyone knew a pandemic would come one day

The Trump administration took steps to keep COVID-19 from reaching the U.S., but the pandemic playbook -- developed by prior administrations -- remained unused without a pandemic-planning office.

Jul 29

Inside the pandemic's lost month

Any chance to slow the virus’s advance on America was lost in February, when a group of experts tried to warn the Trump administration, but were ignored, leaving the nation unprepared and unprotected.

Jul 29

The killer virus strikes

In March, the perfect storm of the coronavirus roared into the U.S., overwhelming parts of the country, causing shutdowns, supply shortages and a death toll nearly impossible to comprehend.

Jul 29

Pandemics do not kill equally

Every pandemic plan predicted that minority groups and vulnerable people would be the ones to get hurt the most. It took just weeks for communities of color to get hit disproportionately by COVID-19.

Jul 29

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