It’s an anniversary people around the world would probably rather forget.
It was two years ago Friday, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared COVID-19 a global pandemic.
Since then more than 453 million people worldwide have been infected and over 6 million people have died, including more than 37,200 in Canada. Life has yet to return to a pre-pandemic normal and many people remain divided over the public safety measures that were put in place.
Ontario announced its first COVID closure a day after the WHO pandemic declaration with the decision to close all schools for two weeks following the March break. That closure ended up being stretched to the end of May before students were switched to online learning. By March 17, 2020, Premier Doug Ford declared a state of emergency and the province went into its first lockdown that shuttered businesses deemed non-essential including restaurants, gyms, theatres, and salons. Canada and the U.S. agreed to restrict cross border travel to only that deemed essential.
By the end of May 2020, a disproportionate number of seniors had lost their lives as the virus ravaged long-term care homes and the Canadian Armed Forces was deployed to five of the hardest hit. Ontario’s independent commission into long-term care determined that during the first wave, 55 per cent of long-term care homes in the province reported an outbreak and 75 per cent of all deaths were residents of those homes.
Most lockdown restrictions were eased for the bulk of Ontario by mid-July 2020 and people became hopeful the worst of the pandemic was behind them. Those hopes were dashed by the end of September of that year as Ontario recorded its highest single-day COVID-19 case count of 700 and the second wave of the virus was declared. A provincewide mask mandate came into effect in October 2020 and restrictions for businesses began to be reintroduced.
In November 2020 with daily cases soaring to above 1,400, the provincial government introduced a five-tiered, colour-coded restriction system to help curb the spread by tailoring regulations to each region. Areas with the lowest case counts were placed in the ‘prevent’ or green category, which was standard measures. Those with the highest infection spread got placed in the ‘lockdown’ or grey tier which included the maximum public health measures. By December 26, 2020, the entire province was once again thrust into lockdown as single-day cases soared well above 2,000. But it wasn’t all negative that month, Health Canada officially approved the use of Pfizer’s and Moderna’s coronavirus vaccines with shots making it into arms within days. The Middlesex London Health Unit set-up its first mass vaccination clinic at the Western Fair Agri-plex. Karen Dann, a registered nurse and administrator at Country Terrace Nursing Home, was the first to receive the shot at the facility.
In mid-January 2021, the province issued an emergency alert reminding Ontarians of a stay-at-home order that was put in effect due to the surging cases. Days later, the Middlesex London Health Unit confirmed its youngest death of the pandemic – 19-year-old Yassin Dabeh, a cleaner at a Delaware long-term care home. By the end of that month, the total death toll in the province had surpassed 6,000.
In February, schools once again reopened to in-person learning, the province brought back its colour-coded restriction system and Health Canada approved Oxford–AstraZeneca’s coronavirus vaccine. However, variants of the virus from South Africa and Brazil had begun to surface, sparking new fears.
With cases once again climbing, the Ontario government activated a four-week “emergency brake” on April 1. Seven days later that was turned into the province’s third state of emergency and a stay-at-home order. School-aged children learned remotely during this time. There were businesses including The Bridges at Tillsonburg Golf Club, that defied orders and opened to the public during this time. The Church of God in Aylmer also held in-person gatherings that led to charges, hefty fines, and eventually a court order to lock its doors. A constitutional challenge of the province’s COVID-19 religious gathering restrictions made by the Church of God and the Trinity Bible Chapel in Waterloo was dismissed in March 2022.
In May 2021 as the third wave rolled through, hospitals in COVID-19 hot spots became so overwhelmed, patients had to be transferred to other hospitals in the province. COVID-19 vaccine eligibility was expanded to all Ontarians over the age of 18 at this time and second dose appointments for those 70 and older were accelerated. The following month, the stay-at-home order was allowed to expire and a new three step economic reopening plan began. By June 30, 2021, daily cases in Ontario hit a nearly ten month low.
In September 2021, the Delta variant had become the dominant strain and Health Canada approved a name change of the COVID-19 vaccines. The authorization allowed the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine to now be called Comirnaty, the Moderna vaccine to be named SpikeVax, and the AstraZeneca vaccine to be Vaxzevria.
Ontario reached a grim milestone by the end of November 2021, as the number of COVID-19 deaths since the pandemic began hit 10,000. A month later, the largest wave arrived fueled by the Omicron variant. It again caused daily case numbers to soar and infect even the vaccinated. On December 30, 2021, the daily number of COVID-19 cases reached nearly 14,000, smashing the previous single-day record high. Lockdown measures were once again introduced.
Those measures were relatively short lived though, with the province beginning the process of easing them at the end of January of this year. Restaurants, gyms and movie theatres were allowed to reopen with limited capacity and social gathering limits were increased. By March 1, restrictions nearly all vanished with establishments and concert venues once again allowed full capacity and proof of vaccination requirements lifted.
The last major restriction, the mask mandate, is set to go on March 21 in most indoor public settings. It will remain in hospital, long-term care homes and on public transit until sometime in April.
The last round of restrictions and a move by the federal government to require truck drivers to be fully vaccinated in order to cross into Canada appeared to be the last straw for a large group of people across the country. They formed a so-called ‘freedom convoy’ that spiraled into an occupation in downtown Ottawa and a blockade at the Ambassador Bridge in Windsor. Premier Ford declared a state of emergency as a result. While residents and businesses in Ottawa dealt with a rowdy atmosphere that shutdown the core of the city, no vehicles could cross the border in Windsor. That temporarily crippled the auto sector which was unable to get much needed parts delivery. The region’s mayor estimated the border blockade cost the economy $400 million in commercial goods and food each day. Police moved in to dismantle the blockade the weekend of February 11. A week later, similar steps were taken to rid Ottawa of the occupation of anti-mandate protesters. Charges have been laid against four of the convoy organizers.
Not all throughout the pandemic has been grim though. Early in the pandemic, a group of four Western University neuroscientists reminded people to stay at home by rejigging the lyrics to a popular Rolling Stones song. On several occasions people came together to honour frontline workers in hospitals. Those celebrations included a parade of first responder vehicles passing London’s hospitals and a tree illuminated in blue in Victoria Park to mark 2020 as the year of the nurse. The most recent show of support for healthcare workers came last month when Londoners braved the cold to stand outside the hospital holding signs of appreciation in a “Love is Better Than Hate” demonstration.
Currently, more than 88 per cent of eligible Canadians have received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. In Ontario, nearly 93 per cent of people 12 and older have received one dose, while 90.7 per cent have been given a second dose. More than 7 million booster shots have been administered.
Finally, on this second anniversary it is important to note the pandemic has not been deemed over. But brighter days and a return to more normal life appears eminent as talk of a post-pandemic world has begun and in-person events and activities paused for two years resume.
