evidence: Though initially discovered in Wuhan, China, in late 2019, COVID-19 entered the conversation in the U.S. in January 2020, when the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) alerted the nation of the outbreak abroad. Later that month, the first national case of COVID-19 was reported in the state of Washington; by January 24, the virus had made its way to Chicago. The outbreak escalated quickly from there, during a period of uncertainty about how the virus was transmitted, how quickly it could spread and how much of a threat it was to public health.