An animated map shows how the coronavirus spread through the US, state by state, since the first confirmed case in January
- The US has recorded over 486,000 coronavirus cases. More than 18,000 people have died.
- An animated map shows the outbreak's progression across the country since the first case was confirmed in January.
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On January 20, the US reported the first coronavirus case on American soil - a traveler who'd returned from Wuhan, China, in Washington state.
In the two-and-a-half months since, cases in the country have surged. More than 486,000 people have gotten sick - far more than in any other country - and that number only includes those who've been tested. More than 18,000 people have died.
The animated map below tracks the spread of the virus across the country week by week, showing when the first cases were confirmed in each state and how the outbreak has grown.
A timeline of the coronavirus' spread in the US
From January 20 to February 24, coronavirus cases were reported in six states. By March 2, the number of states grew to 11, then by March 9, cases had been confirmed in 37 states.
But for a time, each state's case count remained relatively low - the only three states with more than 100 cases as of March 9 were California, New York, and Washington. However, at that time, US was not testing widely, due to errors and delays in the federal test rollout.
By March 23, every state had reported cases of the virus.
As of April 6, every US state had at least 100 cases. Nine states had more than 10,000, while New York state had more than 130,000.
Here's where the US cases have been reported, county by county:
Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said on Wednesday that he expects the US to soon start seeing the effects of lockdowns and social distancing reflected in its epidemic curve.
"I think we're going to start to see soon, within the next week or so, kind of a plateauing out and a turning around," Fauci said. "We've got to be cautiously optimistic, not be overconfident. But I think we're going to start seeing that."
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