It was five years ago this Monday that COVID-19 was first detected in the United States.

Since then, over 1.2 million Americans have lost their lives to the virus, and the global death toll exceeds 7 million.

On January 20, 2020, tests confirmed that a man in his 30s, who had just come back from Wuhan, China, was infected with a novel coronavirus that had not yet been named.

The ensuing turmoil and anxiety could not have been predicted at that moment but it initiated a time filled with uncertainty and major changes in public health.

What was the First Confirmed COVID Case in the U.S.?

The initial confirmed case of the novel coronavirus in the United States was reported in Snohomish County, Washington, located about 12 miles north of Seattle, less than two months after the virus first emerged in central China.

The patient, who has not been named, was identified by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as a 35-year-old man returning from a family trip to Wuhan, a sprawling city of nearly 14 million where the virus originated. On the same day, the CDC activated its Emergency Operations Center in response to the outbreak.

He was treated at Providence Regional Medical Center near Everett, Washington. Reports indicated that the patient had symptoms including cough, fever, fatigue, and diarrhea before he developed pneumonia. He was discharged on February 3, 2020.

While this was the first confirmed case in the U.S., it is believed that the virus may have been circulating undetected prior to that.

What is COVID-19 Like in 2025?

Despite improvements in vaccines and previous infections, COVID-19 seems to be here to stay.

“The virus remains present and is not going away. However, the severity of cases has changed significantly,” explained Dr. Paul Sax, clinical director of infectious diseases at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and a professor at Harvard Medical School.

In 2020, a key indicator of COVID-19 was the sudden loss of taste and smell alongside fever and cough. Nowadays, these symptoms can mirror those of other typical seasonal illnesses.

“The symptoms are now almost indistinguishable from those of the flu and other respiratory viruses,” noted Sax. “Some individuals have such mild symptoms that they might not even consider getting tested for COVID-19.”

Since early 2022, the rate of deaths due to the virus has been declining following a significant surge, according to CDC data, although new infections continue to occur.

Rapid at-home tests have become the standard for detecting the virus, and since the federal government launched a program, Americans have ordered over 900 million tests through COVIDtests.gov. Individuals can still request up to four free tests.

Tests are also available at local stores or online.

WastewaterSCAN, which monitors the presence of various pathogens in sewage, reported high COVID-19 levels in many locations across the country as of early January, although these levels were not as elevated as during the peaks seen last winter or in August.

Contributors: Adrianna Rodriquez, Grace Hauck