How COVID-19 upended life in Europe throughout 2020

How COVID-19 upended life in Europe throughout 2020

It's been a year since the World Health Organization (WHO) first picked up information on a "viral pneumonia" from Chinese authorities in Wuhan.That pneumonia of unknown origin would in just a few short months cause the worst pandemic the world has seen in a century.A year on, COVID-19 has killed at least 1.7 million people, infecting over 80.8 million. It devastated European hospitals and forced many countries to heavily restrict people's movements.Although the virus had been circulating earlier than that fateful December 31 date, the discovery of cases of this virus would set into motion the defining event of 2020, which has impacted all of our lives.Here's a look at how the COVID-19 pandemic unfolded in Europe.January 2020: First cases of coronavirus reported in EuropeThe WHO first said they were monitoring a cluster of pneumonia cases on January 4, 2020, with a tweet stating that investigations were ongoing after confirming an outbreak with Chinese officials.Scientifically, some progress occurred in January: the virus' genomic sequence was published by Chinese authorities and a WHO mission to China was sent to learn about the virus response.The first confirmed death due to the virus was confirmed in China alongside the possibility for human to