First they called it ‘the novel coronavirus’

The first mention of Covid-19 in the Queens Chronicle came on Jan. 30, 2020, in a story headlined “Coronavirus fears seep into Flushing.” It began, “While New York has no confirmed cases of the quickly spreading coronavirus, fears of the disease have prompted Flushing Town Hall to cancel its annual Lunar New Year Chinese Temple Bazaar.”

It went on to say that the same day FTH announced the cancellation, Jan. 28, Gov. Cuomo reported sending 10 samples from New Yorkers to Washington, DC, for testing. Seven were negative for the novel coronavirus, while three were pending.

The contagion, scientifically known as Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus-2, or SARS-CoV-2, eventually would kill 46,912 NYC residents, according to official data.

One week after that first story, the virus made the front page for the first time, with the simple headline “Coronavirus fears.” One month later, following the first diagnosis in the city, the headline on March 5 was “It’s here.”

Days later, St. John’s University became the first school in Queens to close: “Covid-19 shutdown.” And the March 19 paper had a slew of stories on the rapidly growing crisis and its impact, prompting the “Upside down” headline and photo, with a caption that said, “The world has been turned upside down — so you might as well see it that way.” We did, for a long time to follow.

That was the week nearly everything was shut down or greatly curtailed: courts, restaurants, movie theaters. Hospitals struggled to save lives. And Cuomo took the lead, sometimes negating something Mayor Bill de Blasio had said the day before, or even the same day.

The longest March ever experienced turned into April and the crisis only worsened. The death rate in the city peaked mid-month. Then Cuomo announced that it was easing: “What’s next?” Battles over how to contain the virus continued: “Beachfront propriety,” “Where are the face masks?” and “Shut down.” Hope finally arrived in December with the vaccine: “Magic potion.”

It was at least the end of the beginning.

— Peter C. Mastrosimone

Find more Covid remembrance stories tagged “SARS-CoV-2: five years later” written throughout March at qchron.com.