A Look At Some Of The First Television News Coverage Of The Covid-19 Outbreak

Before it was known as Covid-19 or even just a "coronavirus", the viral outbreak that would go on to become a global pandemic was referred to as simply a "mysterious pneumonia like illness" or "flu-like illness" in Wuhan or China. Looking more closely, some of the earliest coverage was on international networks like AlJazeera, followed swiftly by business channels trying to make sense of the likely economic impact. It wasn't until late January that it finally became household news on mainstream news channels. Looking more closely at some of the earliest mentions of the outbreak, the details emerging in the first days of January were strongly suggestive of a serious health threat despite receiving little to no media attention here in the US.

View The Television Explorer Timeline.