Here is a timeline of how coronavirus has affected Arizona

Mar 10, 2020, 4:15 AM | Updated: Mar 11, 2020, 7:02 pm

PHOENIX — It has been more than a month since the first case of coronavirus was diagnosed in Arizona.

The state has since added one confirmed case and four presumptive cases of the virus that has affected more than 100,000 worldwide since the outbreak started in Wuhan, China.

Here’s a timeline of COVID-19 in Arizona since the first case was announced in late January.

January 26

The Arizona Department of Health Services confirms the first case of coronavirus in the state.

The patient was a Maricopa County resident and a member of the Arizona State University community who recently returned from traveling in Wuhan, China.

The state health department added that the person, who does not live in university housing, was not severely ill.

It was the fifth confirmed case of the disease in the United States.

January 28

Quickly after the first coronavirus case diagnosis, surgical masks become the hot accessory at Arizona State University.

Multiple stores around the Tempe campus were sold out of the face masks, which some students wore of precaution after an ASU community member was diagnosed with the coronavirus after a trip to China.

“I know everything around here actually sold out,” said Daniel Oh, a student who wore a mask to ASU. “I got mine from a friend. She actually stocked up on it while they had stocks at stores.”

KTAR News 92.3 FM found shelves empty of surgical masks at one Target and two CVS stores near campus.

February 10

A Valley doctor said officials enforcing a quarantine aboard a cruise ship off the coast of Japan because of the coronavirus outbreak are handling the situation with proper caution.

Dr. Sommer Gunia, a Scottsdale surgeon, should know. She and her husband were among the approximately 3,700 people stuck aboard the Diamond Princess in Yokohama Harbor for the first couple weeks in February.

“I think they’ve been very cautious,” Gunia told KTAR News 92.3 FM’s Arizona’s Morning News.

February 23

The coronavirus patient connected to the Arizona State University community is released from isolation.

“The individual, a male with ties to Arizona State University, has received multiple negative tests from CDC and meets the criteria to be released from isolation,” Maricopa County health officials said.

“We would like to thank this individual for his patience and commitment to public health during his prolonged isolation with very mild illness.”

February 26

Arizona State University cancels its study abroad programs in South Korea after the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention elevated the country’s coronavirus warning.

The CDC designated the coronavirus presence in South Korea as a level 3 warning, encouraging travelers to forgo all nonessential travel to the country.

February 27

Arizona Gov. Doug Ducey told KTAR News 92.3 FM’s Arizona’s Morning News the state already had a coronavirus outbreak response plan in place.

“We want to be prepared; we are prepared,” Ducey said.

Ducey added that he receives daily briefs on the infection.

February 28

Arizona health officials announce the state is set to be able to perform same-day, in-house coronavirus testing.

The state, which had just one confirmed case to this point, would become one of only a handful of states with that capability.

Previously, potential Arizona coronavirus patients had to get their tests sent to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

“Depending on when the tests came in, we’d be able to take public health action that day,” Dr. Cara Christ, director of Arizona Department of Health Services, told KTAR News 92.3 FM.

March 2

Christ announces that Arizona is monitoring 250 returning travelers for coronavirus.

“We know the disease is spreading and we can expect additional cases in Arizona,” Christ said during a press conference.

March 3

A man in his 20s is confirmed to have a presumptive case of coronavirus in Maricopa County.

The patient is a “known contact of a presumed positive case outside of Arizona who had been to area with community spread of the virus,” officials said.

March 4

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announces an initial pledge of $500,000 to Arizona to fight the coronavirus outbreak.

The health department says the funds will be used for monitoring travelers, data management, lab equipment and other response tactics.

March 5

With spring break upcoming, Arizona State University issues new travel guidelines, including self-isolation in some cases, in response to the global coronavirus outbreak.

Anybody affiliated with the school was being asked to undergo a 14-day self-isolation period upon return from an area classified by the Centers for Disease Control as being at the highest risk levels for the COVID-19 virus.

The guidelines refer specifically to Level 2 (Japan) and Level 3 (China, Iran, Italy and South Korea) countries.

March 5

Scottsdale first responders who evaluated a patient in the past week who later tested positive for coronavirus were being closely monitored and kept off the job.

Scottsdale officials said a four-person fire crew and two-person ambulance crew helped assist the man, who was transported to a local hospital.

Once the positive case was confirmed, the six first responders were placed in social distancing protocol as a precautionary measure.

One Scottsdale Fire employee was quickly cleared to return to work.

March 6

A third person in Arizona, a health care worker, was diagnosed with the COVID-19 coronavirus.

The case was being treated as the state’s first spread through the community rather than from contact with a known source.

“We have not been able to link this patient back to one of our current cases or any history of travel,” Christ told KTAR News 92.3 FM.

The patient, a woman in her 40s, was hospitalized in stable condition in Maricopa County, authorities said. She works in Maricopa County and lives in Pinal County.

March 7

Two new patients in Pinal County returned presumptive positive cases of coronavirus, bringing the total to five patients so far in Arizona.

The two cases announced Saturday morning stemmed from the same household as the health care worker who was announced to have contracted the illness on Friday, according to the Arizona Department of Health Services.

March 8

A member of the American Leadership Academy’s Ironwood K-12 campus was identified as having a presumptive positive test for the coronavirus.

Health officials said the individual with the existing case did not have a severe illness and has fully recovered.

The person was not on campus while ill, and health officials deemed the risk to others outside of close contact to be low.

March 8

U.S. Rep Paul Gosar of Arizona announces he has come in contact with someone who has tested positive for COVID-19.

Both Gosar and his staff came in contact with the individual during last month’s Conservative Political Action Conference in Washington, D.C., according to a press release. The event was held Feb. 26-29.

On Monday morning, Gosar said he was told the chances he’d been infected were slim.

March 9

Southern Arizona gets its first coronavirus case.

The patient is a Pima County resident with a presumptive positive test for COVID-19, the ailment caused by the novel coronavirus.

It’s Arizona’s sixth positive coronavirus test.

March 9

Canadian health officials said Monday that two passengers who took a flight from Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport at the end of February have tested positive for coronavirus.

The passengers took WestJet flight 1199 from Phoenix to Toronto on Feb. 28.

The cases were diagnosed in Canada, not in Arizona, health officials said.

March 10

An Intel employee who recently visited the tech giant’s Chandler campus has tested positive for coronavirus, the company said.

Intel didn’t provide details about where the worker was tested, when the person was in Arizona and what steps were being taken at the Chandler campus.

March 10

The Democratic National Convention announces that Sunday’s debate at the Arizona Federal Theatre will not feature a live audience amid growing coronavirus fears.

DNC Communications Director Xochitl Hinojosa said in a statement that the decision was made at the request of the campaigns of Democratic Party candidates Joe Biden and Bernie Sanders.

March 11

Health officials announced that Arizona has three new cases of coronavirus, bringing the state’s total to nine.

Pinal County has two of the cases. They are from the same household as the county’s three previous cases. The new cases are people over 60 years old who are recovering at home.

The third new case is in Maricopa County, the third overall in metro Phoenix.

March 11

Ducey issues a declaration of public health emergency for Arizona due to continuing coronavirus concerns.

The declaration will provide hospitals and health care facilities the flexibility to enhance their safety protocols and will provide health officials with additional medical supplies.

Ducey also announced an executive order aimed at protecting at-risk populations.