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The World in 2020 the year the world stayed home

In April, close to half of everyone on Earth was under some kind of stay-at-home order. Picture every other person on the planet, all indoors at the same time. By the end of the year the virus had killed about 1.8 million people worldwide.

Life back then

Kitchens turned into offices and classrooms almost overnight, and you are on mute became the phrase of the year. Italians sang to each other from their balconies, and people in Spain and Britain clapped for health workers from windows each evening. Millions escaped into Animal Crossing, a gentle island game from Japan that sold out consoles worldwide. Masks hung by every front door, and a video call was often the only way to see a grandparent.

The year in 8 events

• 🦠Jan 23 China seals off Wuhan, a city of 11 million people. Trains and planes stop and nobody is allowed to leave.
• 🚪Jan 31 The United Kingdom officially leaves the European Union after 47 years.
• 🏠Mar 9 Italy locks down the whole country as hospitals in the north fill up. Spain follows within days.
• 🌍Mar 11 The WHO declares COVID-19 a pandemic. Within weeks, schools, offices and borders close on every continent.
• 🕯️May 25 George Floyd is killed by police in Minneapolis. Protests spread to hundreds of cities in the US and abroad.
• 🕯️Aug 4 A huge explosion at the port of Beirut kills around 200 people and shatters windows across the city.
• 🗳️Nov 3 Americans vote in record numbers. Joe Biden defeats Donald Trump after days of vote counting.
• 💉Dec 8 Margaret Keenan, age 90, gets the world's first approved COVID-19 shot, in England. The vaccine comes from BioNTech in Germany, working with Pfizer.

Who Was in Charge?

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