RSI produces COVID-19 timeline

As part of its new Risk & Crisis Communication Master Class & Boot Camp, and its ongoing commitment to keep its understanding of major public health issues current, RSI has produced a COVID-19 Timeline with emphasis on Canada and the United States, communication and citizen oriented milestones, and official pronouncements by agencies such as Public Health Agency of Canada and the Centers for Disease Control.

The timeline begins in October 2019 when, it is now believed, the first actual cases of this novel corona virus began circulating in the Wuhan region. The timeline also includes some dates that were later revised when new information came to light. These dates are marked.

The timeline has been divided into periods. At the time of this writing, and subject to revision, those periods are:

• EARLY TRANSMISSION AND DISCOVERY PERIOD
• EARLY QUARANTINES AND DENIAL PERIOD
• LOCKDOWN PERIOD
• TIMID REOPENING PERIOD
• THE RELAPSE
• AUTUMN 2020

The timeline was produced by RSI’s Risk Perception and Communication team. Though other COVID-19 timelines exist, RSI determined the need to produce one that was specific to its Master Class curricula.

The team has not decided how long it will continue to update the timeline; events will determine a cutoff date.

Of note, the timeline page also includes charts provided by Our World in Data.