The Coronavirus was first discovered in Wuhan, China in December of 2019.

NY1 first started reporting about it in mid-January 2020, right around the time the first case was confirmed near Seattle. Quickly the virus spread, eventually reaching communities across the country.

The first confirmed case in New York City was March 1, 2020, and then two weeks later, the first death. Less than a month after that on April 7, city data shows 813 New Yorkers died from COVID-19. New York City quickly became the epicenter of the virus.

As of March 1, Johns Hopkins University reports there have been more than 114 million cases across the globe and nearly 2.6 million deaths. In New York State, 48,000 residents have died from the virus.

City data shows a sharp increase in coronavirus-related deaths from March to April 2020.

The pandemic took a toll on nearly every corner of the city. Every industry was forced to pivot in an effort to survive. Restaurants struggled to keep their doors open, with indoor dining shuttered for months.

The arts and entertainment industry, the hardest hit in the entire city suffered greatly. With the great white way going dark, employment in that sector dropped a whopping 66% from the year before.

The city thrives on tourism – but that too dropped dramatically. 67 million people visited the five boroughs in 2019 – compared to just 23 million last year.

Jobs were gone in an instant.

Department of Labor statistics show that the unemployment rate in New York City peaked at 20.3% in June 2020. Between March and August of last year, 1.66 million unemployment claims were filed, that’s up 1,061% during the same period in 2019.

Department of Labor statistics show that the unemployment rate in New York City peaked at 20.3% in June 2020.

Experts say technology and innovation will drive the city's economy forward and that "work-from-home" is expected to be long-term.