《纽约时报》4月8日刊发的一篇题为《从未见过如此情况》的文章中，描绘了美国疫情期间的一幅景象：食物银行前，开车等待领取救济食品的人们排起了一条条绵延数英里的“长龙”。

　　为遏制疫情蔓延，美国的全国性封锁已进入第四周。随着新冠病毒的继续肆虐，美国经济民生都面临着巨大的挑战。

　　短短三周时间内，美国1680万人失业，相当于丧失10％劳动力。这样的“失业潮”速度甚至超过了上世纪30年代的经济大萧条时期。

　　4月11日，美国总统特朗普批准怀俄明州为新冠肺炎疫情“重大灾难状态”。至此，美国所有50个州都进入了“重大灾难状态”，这在美国历史上是第一次。

　　那么美国又是如何一步步深陷疫情危机？

　　Never seen anything like it, read the headline of a New York Times article on April 8 as the U.S. entered its fourth week of national emergency due to the spread of the novel coronavirus. The report painted a dim picture of cars snaking in miles-long queues at food banks from Nebraska to Washington. Approximately 16.8 million Americans were laid off or put on furlough in a span of three weeks – that's over 10 percent of the American workforce, which outpaced the worst month of the Great Recession.

　　On Saturday, U.S. President Donald Trump declared major disaster in all 50 states – for the first time in U.S. history. For some, the quick succession of life-changing events were too difficult to comprehend.

　　How did things get here?

　　December to January

　　新冠肺炎病例出现后，中国及时向世界卫生组织报告情况，共享病毒基因序列。

　　世界卫生组织也在线发布一整套综合性技术指导，根据当时对该病毒的了解，向所有国家提供了如何发现、检测和管理潜在病例的建议。

　　中国和世界卫生组织发布的信息并未引起特朗普政府的重视。而在美国国内，包括白宫高级顾问、内阁资深专家和情报机构在内的一系列人员1月也对新冠肺炎疫情敲响了警钟，但特朗普政府却忽视问题严重性，未能及时采取行动。

　　As early as December 31, 2019, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) learned of a cluster of 27 cases of pneumonia of unexplained origin in Wuhan on the same day that China reported the same number of pneumonia cases of unknown etiology in the central Chinese city.

　　Between December 31, 2019 and January 3, 2020, China reported 44 such cases to the WHO China Country Office.

　　On January 1, the WHO set up the Incident Management Support Team to prepare for an outbreak. Two days later a Chinese official informed CDC Director Robert Redfield about the outbreak of a respiratory illness in Wuhan. Redfield relayed the information to Alex Azar, the Health and Human Services secretary, who then told the National Security Council.

　　But it wasn't until late January that Trump made his first comments about the disease, a day after the U.S. confirmed its first case in Seattle. We have it totally under control, the president sounded sanguine.

　　Between Beijing's notification and Trump's reaction, the WHO issued its first Disease Outbreak News and a technical guidance on how to detect, test and manage potential cases to all countries, while Chinese health authorities identified the virus and shared its genetic makeup publicly. It was also during this period that local health authorities in Wuhan ruled out flu, avian flu, adenovirus infections, the severe acute respiratory syndrome and the Middle East respiratory syndrome. Plus, China's National Health Commission confirmed that the novel coronavirus was being transmitted between humans.

　　Across the pond, the CDC fell short of taking concrete prevention and control measures except offering a warning against Americans traveling to Wuhan. It seemed that the emerging cases in Thailand, Japan and South Korea by January 20 failed to capture their attention.

　　Over the next few days, Washington was on a hectic schedule in imposing travel restrictions from China and evacuating American citizens from Wuhan.

　　According to a Washington Post report, Trump's long-term adviser Peter Navarro wrote a memo warning of 500,000 or more American deaths in late January. However, his words fell flat, along with U.S. intelligence agencies that have been warning on this since January.

　　There was back then discord within the White House over the virus, with some Trump aides urging action while others putting the November elections above everything else.

　　One day after the WHO declared the coronavirus a Public Health Emergency of International Concern, the U.S. announced a pubic health emergency over the virus, on the last day of January.

　　February

　　2月，中国和其他国家都在升级防控措施以遏制疫情蔓延。