One year later.
Hard as it may be to accept, as of Sunday (March 14), COVID-19 in northern B.C. has endured a full year of ups, downs, changes, alterations, cancellations and everything in between with respect to the measures needed to keep residents safe from the virus' transmission.
The World Health Organization (W.H.O.) officially declared the pandemic on March 11, 2020.
Three days later, on March 14, 2020, Northern Health was alerted of its first two infections of the virus.
Since then, as of Monday (March 15, 2021), 5,230 have been found across the region and has sadly included 111 deaths linked to COVID-19, all of whom were family, friends and loved ones.
Things many of us took for granted—like hugging our family or hosting a kid's birthday party—would eventually fall into the category of unsafe activities.
Social distancing, regular hand washing and masking up became the norm.
We asked readers and followers across various PrinceGeorgeMatters outlets to recall their #TheMoment when they realized the pandemic had settled in.
Here are some of the responses we received.
HEALTH EXPERIENCES
“I had beat COVID-19 Dec. 24. I got cleared, was the longest 20+ days of my life; not a good experience at all. [I] still have long-term effects, especially my lungs and memory loss.”
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“I was 16 weeks pregnant and my husband and I both got laid off [from] our jobs.”
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“Just had a heart attack and the world got flipped upside down.”
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“When, in order to care for people, I had to wear a respirator every day.”
SHOCK AND AWE
“Prince George, 2 p.m., Wednesday, March 25, 2020.
“No other person to be seen on 5th Avenue between Queensway and Victoria St. No cars moving either. A crow pecked at garbage in the roadway until a gust of wind rattled the grit. Then it flapped away. Otherwise complete silence. It felt like the end of the world.”
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“When we lost a resident and their family couldn’t come to say ‘goodbye’ one last time, so they had to stand outside crying through the closed window playing ‘Hallelujah.’”
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“Listening the citizens of Prince George say ‘Thank you’ to the hospital staff each night! ‘Thank you’ everyday still.”
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“Driving through the city at 4 p.m. on a Friday and the roads were dead quiet.”
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“When I started baking multiple loaves of bread in a week.”
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“Watching the world shut down on TV.”
MISSING LOVED ONES, FEELINGS OF LONELINESS
“For me was when I went to drop something off for my grandmother who is in a home and I wasn’t allowed to see her. They wouldn’t, and still won’t, even let me see her through a window. Knowing my grandmother is literally on the other side of the door that I can see is so frustrating. It has now been over a year since I have seen her, felt her hugs, heard her laugh in person and I miss her. Every. Single. Day.”
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“Not be able to get within six feet of my little grandchildren.”
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“When I couldn’t go on the road for work and had to stay home with my family. I know there was a lot of negative things, but for me, it was amazing.”
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“When my dad and grandmother were both in the hospital and my mom was alone.”
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“Spending every day and every night completely alone in a basement suite for more than two weeks.”
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“My St. Patrick’s Day [2020] shift was cancelled because of bars shutting down. I never got to say ‘Hi’ to my regulars.”
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“When someone left me in Prince George to live on my own.”
EMPTY CAMPUSES
“Not going to school”
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“I went to [the] UNBC library to meet a colleague and there were three people on the main floor.”
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“When UNBC’s convocation ceremony was cancelled [and] moved online”
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“When from one day to the next, we weren’t allowed on campus anymore.”
Do you have a story to share about #TheMoment? Send an email to news@princegeorgematters.com.
Here stories from other #TheMoment experiences from fellow British Columbians in the video below by Glacier Media Multimedia Reporter Alanna Kelly.
