A man in his 60's walks into Sydney's Westmead hospital with flu like symptoms.
He's placed into isolation and swabbed for a new mystery virus; on the 25th his test comes back positive.
It's one of the first cases in Australia and it was a challenge for Doctor George Zhou's team to treat.
This man was one of four cases recorded on this day last year.
All were travellers from China and within a week, the Prime Minister Scott Morrison had banned visitors from the country altogether.
On February the 3rd came the first of many repatriation flights.
243 Australians evacuated from the virus epicentre, Wuhan, and they were taken to Christmas Island.
As the virus spread, cruise ships became floating hot-spots.
The Diamond Princess docked at Yokohama Port off Japan, on February the 4th.
All passengers, including hundreds of Australians were quarantined in their rooms.
The Australian passengers were eventually flown to the Howard Springs mining camp outside Darwin in the Northern Territory.
And among them was 78-year-old Perth man James Kwan, who on March the first became the first Australian to die from COVID-19.
Serious mistakes were made too during the pandemic.
On March the 19th, the Ruby Princess docked in Sydney and 2700 people were allowed to disembark, even though a number of sick passengers were waiting for COVID-19 results.
In the coming weeks more than 600 passengers would test positive.
28 would die.
On March the 20th, Australia shut its borders to non-residents and non-citizens.
And panic buying hit supermarkets, forcing Coles and Woolworths to limit toilet paper purchases.
On the 22nd, Australia began the first lockdown with all non-essential services closed.
Lines grew outside Centrelink and the Federal Treasurer Josh Frydenberg ended the month by announcing JobKeeper and JobSeeker to fight the economic impact of restrictions.
By the end of June, the outbreak there had pushed Australia's daily cases to a peak of 746.
With the second wave, came a second rounds of statewide restrictions and eventually the lockdown of Melbourne and the Mitchell shire.
In November, an outbreak in Adelaide prompted a six day lockdown.
Just before Christmas Sydney's Northern Beaches region was declared a COVID-19 hotspot.
- People in Australia must stay at least 1.5 metres away from others. Check your state’s restrictions on gathering limits.
- If you are experiencing cold or flu symptoms, stay home and arrange a test by calling your doctor or contact the Coronavirus Health Information Hotline on 1800 020 080.
- News and information is available in 63 languages at sbs.com.au/coronavirus
- Please check the relevant guidelines for your state or territory: NSW, Victoria, Queensland, Western Australia, South Australia, Northern Territory, ACT, Tasmania.
