How USA TODAY covered the White House coronavirus outbreak: A timeline.

Staff, USA TODAY

January 29, 2021 at 12:04 AM·6 min read

Just past midnight on Oct. 2, the world learned from a tweet that President Donald Trump had the coronavirus. It wasn’t unanticipated – Trump spent the season ignoring public health guidelines. Yet the news momentarily stunned the globe.

The pandemic had killed more than 1 million people worldwide by that point. Now it had infiltrated the Oval Office.

As the nation grappled with what would happen if Trump became too sick to perform his duties, a second concern emerged: Who else had come in contact with the president while he had pursued business as usual, and were they now at risk, too?

USA TODAY reporters set out to answer that question the day Trump announced he had the virus.

A timeline of our coverage:

OCT. 2

Trump reveals he tested positive

Trump announced to the world via Twitter that he and First Lady Melania Trump had tested positive for the coronavirus. Media outlets, including USA TODAY, scrambled to break the early morning news.

READ OUR BREAKING STORY: Trump, Melania test positive for coronavirus, president vows to begin quarantine 'immediately'

President Donald Trump tweeted just past midnight on Oct. 2, 2020, that he and First Lady Melania Trump had tested positive for COVID-19.

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Rose Garden identified as a ‘superspreader’

By 4:30 p.m. that day, USA TODAY reporters had identified three people in Trump’s orbit who revealed they, too, were infected – each of whom had attended the Sept. 26th White House Rose Garden ceremony announcing the nomination of Amy Coney Barrett to the U.S. Supreme Court.

By the end of that day, the list of infected Rose Garden attendees grew to seven, including Trump, and was dubbed a coronavirus ‘superspreader.’

READ OUR SUPERSPREADER STORY: Rose Garden announcement of Supreme Court nominee potential 'super spreader' event; Trump plus seven others get COVID-19

Several people in Trump's orbit who tested positive had attended the Sept. 26, 2020, Rose Garden ceremony where President Donald Trump announced his nomination of Amy Coney Barrett to the U.S. Supreme Court.

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An early picture of the outbreak emerges

Also on Oct. 2, reporters began piecing together President Trump’s recent travels and event schedule along with those of the people in his orbit. An early picture of the potential reach of the White House outbreak began to emerge.

SEE OUR TIMELINE: President Trump has COVID-19: A timeline of his travels leading up to a positive coronavirus test

USA TODAY kept tabs on who in President Trump's orbit tested positive for the coronavirus after his own diagnosis on Oct. 2, 2020.

OCT. 5

White House rebuffs the CDC

After days of speculation about the extent of the CDC’s role – if any – in contact tracing the White House outbreak, news outlets began reporting that the federal government had not activated the CDC’s contact tracing team. USA TODAY reporters were the first to report that the CDC had offered to help and the White House had refused that offer.

READ OUR CDC STORY: White House rebuffed CDC offer to lead contact tracing investigation of Trump team outbreak

President Donald Trump, seen here with Dr. Robert Redfield, Director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, turned down an offer by the CDC to provide contact tracing of the White House coronavirus outbreak.

OCT. 7

The White House outbreak spreads beyond D.C.

More than two dozen people connected to the White House had by now disclosed positive coronavirus tests. A team of USA TODAY reporters examined hundreds of photos, videos and social media posts and scoured attendance logs to identify people who came in contact with those individuals. Our reporting showed that Trump and other White House insiders infected with COVID-19 carried the virus across the country in a matter of days, exposing as many as 6,000 people across several states as they went about their business. In the meantime, the lack of robust contact tracing meant the virus was spreading unchecked. We reached out to more than 70 Rose Garden attendees. Not one of them said they had been contacted after Trump’s positive diagnosis.

READ ABOUT THE SPREAD: White House coronavirus outbreak may have exposed thousands from Atlanta to Minnesota

President Donald Trump traveled across the country in the days before his positive coronavirus test, potentially putting hundreds, if not thousands, of people at risk.

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USA TODAY seeks assistance from the public

As more Rose Garden attendees tested positive, USA TODAY published that day an aerial photograph of the event annotated with the names of dozens of guests and asked readers to help identify the rest. Tips poured in that allowed us to name nearly 140 participants – about two-thirds of those photographed.

VIEW THE ANNOTATED PHOTO: Here's everyone at the White House Rose Garden SCOTUS event now called a likely 'superspreader.' Help us ID them all.

USA TODAY sought the public's help in identifying every person photographed at the Sept. 26, 2020, Rose Garden superspreader event.

OCT. 8

Trump blames Gold Star families for COVID-19 infection

In an interview with the Fox Business Network, Trump appeared to blame military families for giving him the coronavirus. Trump had mingled with Gold Star families at the White House during a reception in their honor just one day after the Rose Garden event.

“They tell me these stories, and I can’t say, ‘Back up, stand 10 feet, I just can’t do it,’ ” Trump said during the interview. “And I went through like 35 people and everyone had a different story.”

USA TODAY reporting showed that the timing and lack of widespread infections among attendees of that event made it unlike that Gold Star families infected Trump. The president was more likely the one exposing the military families to the virus.

READ OUR STORY: Trump claims he got COVID-19 from Gold Star event; evidence shows he probably was already sick by then

President Donald J. Trump and First Lady Melania Trump join guests in singing “America the Beautiful” during a reception in honor of Gold Star Families Sunday, Sept. 27, 2020, in the East Room of the White House.

OCT. 9

Dozens of people connected to White House test positive

As the White House coronavirus outbreak continued to grow, USA TODAY released a new interactive graphic showing how many people in President Trump's orbit contracted the virus and where they had come into contact.

EXPLORE THE INTERACTIVE GRAPHIC: Contact tracing and visualizing the people exposed to COVID-19 by Trump outbreak

As the White House coronavirus outbreak continued to grow, USA TODAY tracked how many people in President Trump's orbit contracted the virus.

OCT. 12

Trump resumes rallies

Although Trump’s illness momentarily paused his campaign rallies, the president hit the trail again just one week after being released from Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. He held an average of one event per day, crisscrossing the country and drawing large crowds. An exclusive USA TODAY analysis showed

that COVID-19 cases grew at a faster rate in at least five of the communities that hosted a rally. Together, the counties saw 1,500 more new cases in the two weeks following Trump’s rallies than the two weeks before – 9,647 cases, up from 8,069. On Oct. 22, we published our story.

READ OUR EXCLUSIVE REPORT: Trump’s campaign made stops nationwide. Coronavirus cases surged in his wake in at least five places.

President Donald Trump takes the state as he's introduced during a Make America Great Again rally at the warren County Fair Grounds in Lebanon, Ohio, on Oct. 12, 2018.

DEC. 3

Republicans bear the brunt of new infections

Coronavirus cases in the country continued to climb with many elected officials outside Trump’s orbit now becoming infected. Republican officials often continued to ignore social distancing guidelines and refused to wear masks even as cases surged to record levels. A USA TODAY analysis of state and local officials known to be infected showed that three out of every four were Republican.

SEE WHO TESTED POSITIVE: Republicans are hit the hardest as coronavirus spreads among elected leaders