In late December 2019, people in Wuhan, China began to get sick with a previously unknown pneumonia, marking the beginning of a new infectious disease, later identified as a new type of coronavirus.

China reports pneumonia of an unknown cause in Wuhan, China, to the World Health Organization Country Office.

Later on, China reports first 41 cases of COVID-19 to the World Health Organization.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention establishes the Coronavirus Incident Management System.

First U.S. coronavirus case is reported in Washington State.

China puts Wuhan on lockdown.

World Health Organization declares a Global Public Health Emergency. CDC identifies person-to-person transmission in the United States.

Department of Health and Human Services declares a public health emergency for the United States to aid the nation's healthcare community in responding to the coronavirus.

First death outside China due to COVID-19 occurs in the Philippines.

Delaware’s Division of Public Health announced that a 50-year-old University of Delaware staffer was the first to test positive for COVID-19.

Delaware Gov. John Carney issued a state of emergency, limiting gatherings to 100 or fewer people. Three additional coronavirus cases – all tied to the university staff member – were announced.

Gov. Carney orders schools to close for the next two weeks to curb the spread of the coronavirus.

Two New Castle County residents, also from the University of Delaware community, tested positive

Gov. Carney banned all gatherings of 50 or more people and limited restaurants to takeout service only. He also ordered the closure of the state’s casinos.

With the statewide number of positive cases at 30, Delaware’s hospitals tightened visitation. Bayhealth said no visitors would be allowed unless they met some outlined exceptions

Gov. Carney orders the closure of Delaware beaches after seeing large clusters of beach goers enjoying the warm weather.

Gov. Carney issues a stay-at-home order and released a list of essential businesses that could remain open. The non-essential businesses were directed to close, starting at 8 a.m. Tuesday, March 24.

Delaware announced its first two COVID-19 deaths, a 66-year-old Sussex resident and a 86-year-old New Castle County man. Both, the state said, had underlying conditions.

Gov. Carney ordered all travelers to Delaware to quarantine themselves for 14 days

Gov. John Carney ordered that Delawareans to limit public gatherings, including funerals, to 10 people in his latest change to the state of emergency declaration.

The Delaware National Guard has been called on to create a field hospital to alleviate demands on downstate hospitals

Gov. John Carney announced that school buildings would remain closed for the rest of the school year. It also meant that the spring high school sports season was completely canceled.

Gov. Carney ordered Delawareans to wear face coverings in public, including places such as grocery stores. The modification to the State of Emergency began on Tuesday, April 28.

Certain businesses began to increase capacity and larger public gatherings were allowed as Delaware entered the second phase of its reopening plan and recovery from the long shutdown.

The state announces the soft launch of its contact tracing effort

Citing the fears of many Delawareans challenged to make rent and mortgage payments during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, state leaders announced that $40 million in assistance is now available for those most affected.

Bars in Delaware’s beach communities can resume service this weekend with restrictions, the Delaware Division of Public Health announced on Tuesday

The Department of Health and Social Services announce it will begin approving plans for indoor visitation at Delaware’s long-term care facilities.

State launches COVID Alert DE mobile app.

Parents, students rally to reopen school buildings outside of the Delaware Department of Education.

State strengthens restrictions: The new guidelines lowered the capacity for indoor dining at restaurants from 60% to 30%. All other indoor gatherings outside of homes must also be limited to 30% of the venue’s stated fire capacity, up to a cap of 50 people

State lays out plans for COVID-19 vaccine, with high-risk workers in health and patient care settings set to be the first to receive the vaccine.

Gov. John Carney and the DHSS announced a new stay-at-home advisory. The directive strongly advises all Delawareans to avoid gathering indoors with anyone outside their household from Dec. 14 through Jan. 11 “to interrupt the dangerous winter surge of COVID-19 cases and hospitalizations in Delaware.”

As Delaware broke its record for COVID-19 hospitalizations for the third day in a row on Thursday, state officials announced new restrictions, including a 10 p.m. curfew for bars and restaurants.

Delaware received its first shipment of the Pfizer BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine

Bayhealth received the state’s first 975 doses of the Pfizer vaccine and began administering shots.

More essential workers and individuals who are 65 years or older have been added to the state’s Phase 1B group for its rollout of the COVID-19 vaccine.

Gov. John Carney, the Delaware Division of Public Health and the Delaware Department of Education Tuesday urged the state’s schools to return to hybrid instruction, a mix of remote and in-person learning.

The state also lifted the 10 p.m. curfew placed on bars and restaurants while also allowing sports to resume with restrictions

More than 56,000 requests were successfully submitted after the Delaware Division of Public Health launched a system for individuals to request an appointment at COVID-19 vaccination events

The state’s first three cases of the COVID-19 variant, SARS-CoV-2 B117, were confirmed by the Delaware Division of Public Health on Friday.

As Delaware’s COVID-19 statistics continue their downward trend, the state increased indoor gathering limits

State prepares for a shipment of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine that was granted Emergency Use Authorization by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration.

More than 56,000 requests were successfully submitted after the Delaware Division of Public Health launched a system for individuals to request an appointment at COVID-19 vaccination events

Social distancing ends for fully vaccinated individuals, and all indoor facilities are able to increase capacity to 100%

In an effort to boost COVID-19 vaccination rates, Delaware launched an incentive program on Tuesday called “DE Wins!” featuring prizes like vacations, scholarships, tickets to various events, gift cards, state park passes and more.

Delaware hit 70% of adults vaccinated against COVID-19, hitting President Joe Biden’s goal before his target date of July 4

Delaware's state of emergency expires.

An indoor mask requirement for everyone kindergarten-age and older in K-12 schools and child care centers goes into effect today, regardless of vaccination status. Districts plan to have a full in-person opening.

Protests over masking in schools played out in school board meetings all across the state over the past two weeks

Delaware’s vaccine providers can begin administering the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 pediatric vaccine to children ages 5-11, the Delaware Division of Public Health announced Wednesday.

Delaware reenters a State of Emergency, and mobilizes the National Guard to help hospitals during COVID-19 surge

Delawareans are required to mask up once again in indoor public settings, per a revision to the State of Emergency declaration signed by Gov. John Carney on Monday.

Delaware's second indoor mask mandate ends. The most recent masking requirement will have lasted 39 days when it expires — much shorter than the first mandate, which was in effect for 388 days from April 2020 to May 2021.

Masking will no longer be required by the state of Delaware in K-12 schools, on school buses or in child care facilities after 6 this evening

Delaware marks two years since the first case of COVID-19 was detected in the state.