On March 11, 2020, the WHO declared the novel coronavirus a pandemic. For some of us, our lives changed radically in that moment. For others, our lived experiences shifted more gradually in the coming days and weeks. For a few, life as we knew it had been turned on its head weeks, even months, earlier. This exhibit features individual stories of how a group of Rutgers-Newark students, their professor, and various peoples in their lives that they interviewed reacted in the initial moments -- most often the beginning few days -- of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Among our stories you'll find humor, despair, disbelief, hope, and -- writing our memories of the pandemic's initial days six to seven months later in fall 2020 -- regret at early nonchalance. Our First Days reflect some common experiences, such as panic buying toilet paper, saying farewell to family and friends for a while, and donning our first masks. Our First Days also feature some less common experiences, such as jetting off to Vegas for a good time, settling bets, and watching friends attend a NOVID party at a frat. We invite you to learn about our First Days.

The outbreak of the COVID-19 coronavirus led to the shutdown of many worldwide operations in attempts to stop the spread through human contact. This had the unfortunate effect of depressing the economy of many countries due to many people staying at home in quarantine. Businesses lost a lot of money, causing unemployment to reach levels that were unheard of before. 

This exhibit shows, through news articles and documented video, the effect that COVID has had on the world at large. It also depicts how the virus has affected some of the largest countries in the world, as well as smaller countries who handled the pandemic in different ways. 

The exhibit is divided into different sections. The first section deals with how the pandemic has made an impact on a worldwide scale. In the beginning of the pandemic, stocks plummetted as countries were going under lockdown and trade came to a halt. Now, many economies have suffered stagnation as they try to recover from months of minimized trade.

The second section deals with the economic impact that COVID-19 has had on the United States. Due to large amounts of cases in the U.S., combined with limited intervention by the government, the American economy has struggled with dealing with the effects of the virus. As a result, both businesses and hospitals lost millions and could potentially lose more before the virus is over.

The third section deals with the impact that the coronavirus has had on China. Since the coronavirus first emerged in Wuhan, China has been able to stabilize the economy through various means; however, more damage could occur if consumer spending does not improve. It has also affected their hospitals, many of which had been working at max capacity.

The last section deals with the economic impact that the coronavirus has had on the continent of Europe. Multiple European countries have struggled with reversing the damage the virus caused at the beginning of the outbreak. Each country had a different strategy for dealing with COVID-19, with varying successes depending on the country.