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Dear readers,

On January 1, this was already shaping up as one of the most momentous years in American history – even if you missed or ignored the small news item the previous day about WHO having identified a new strain of viral pneumonia in China.

At Intelligencer, we started the year asking ourselves the question that drives everything we do: what does a smart, discerning newshound want and need to know today? We were in full swing covering the Democratic primaries, with Olivia Nuzzi and Gabriel Debenetti shuttling for weeks on end between Iowa, New Hampshire, and South Carolina, reporting on what seemed like the most compelling story in the world at that moment.

But by the second half of January, we also started covering the very beginning of another big story – noting the growing epidemic in China (and beyond), asking the kinds of big-picture questions that hold up well today, tracking the implications for the economy, and zeroing in on what the coronavirus might mean for New York City.

Every day and hour since then has been a constant process of trying to understand this cataclysm across its many facets and make that information and those insights accessible to our readers. We do that by trying to puzzle out answers to the moment’s most important questions, going deep with experts and insightful observers, spending time with front-line health care workers, calling out the deadly blunders and lies of the powerful, and directing some mockery at those who deserve it.

We hope you’ll subscribe to New York and join the conversation – with Olivia, Andrew Sullivan, Rebecca Traister, Jonathan Chait, Frank Rich, Josh Barro, Irin Carmon, Zak Cheney-Rice, David Wallace-Wells, Kara Swisher, Scott Galloway, and the rest of our writers and editors – as we all work to get through the coming months together, healthy and informed.

— Jeb Reed • Editor