Coronavirus (COVID-19) Timeline for the Carolinas

This is a timeline of coronavirus (COVID-19) events that have unfolded specific to the Carolinas travel, hospitality and restaurant industries.

Abbreviated timeline:

• March 25: Stay-at-Home Order for Wake County and Durham

• March 24: Stay-at-Home Order for Mecklenburg County.

• March 18: South Carolina closed dine-in restaurants and bars.

• March 17: North Carolina closes restaurants and bars. Takeout and delivery are still offered. Gov. Roy Cooper announces unemployment insurance changes are announced that will make access easier.

• March 15: Ohio and Illinois close restaurants to stem coronavirus. New York City, Los Angeles and the Las Vegas strip also announce closures.

• Late evening, March 15: The CDC says for the next 8 weeks, organizers (whether groups or individuals) cancel or postpone in-person events that consist of 50 people or more throughout the United States

• March 13: President Trump declared a state of emergency nationally.

• March 11: The World Health Organization categorized the outbreak as a global pandemic.

• Jan. 21, 2020: The first case of COVID-19 coronavirus was diagnosed in the USA.