The battle against COVID-19 … one year later

COVID-19

Flattening the curve, social distancing, PPE, quarantine, Healthy at Home – before March 6, 2020, these words and phrases didn’t mean much to most Americans. Now, over one year later, these words are a common part of our everyday vocabulary.

On Jan. 21, 2020, the coronavirus had made its way to the United States as a Washington state resident became the first person in the country with a confirmed case of the 2019 novel coronavirus. Just over six weeks later, the virus would reach the commonwealth as a woman in Harrison County become the first in the state to have a confirmed case of COVID-19. Kentucky declared a state of emergency.

“March 6 of last year was a bright and sunny day. It was a Friday, but that bright, sunny day would begin a long, sometimes dark year. A year ago today, March 6, 2020, marked the first case of COVID-19 recorded here in Kentucky ushering the commonwealth in a war against a deadly once in a century global pandemic,” Gov. Andy Beshear said in a ceremony in Frankfort Saturday commemorating the one-year anniversary of the first case. “A war that continues even though victory is now in our sights.”

The day the first case was confirmed in Kentucky was the same day that then- President Donald Trump declared COVID-19 a national emergency and the World Health Organization officially declared it a worldwide pandemic.

Our county, our state and our nation virtually shut down as the governor urged us to remain “Healthy at Home.”

Since then, the virus has claimed more than 2.5 million lives globally including over 525,000 Americans – 4,829 in Kentucky with 48 of those being Ohio Countians. There have been over 29 million confirmed COVID-19 cases in the country – more than 411,000 in Kentucky with 2,382 of those being from Ohio County.

The pandemic has closed down school buildings and changed the way students learned, caused many churches to move to virtual worship, closed businesses — some forever and forced the cancellation of events from local festivals to the Kentucky Derby and significantly shortened sports seasons.

Our medical personal and other essential workers became our frontline warriors as the country battled the virus. It has significantly impacted our lives for a year.

The first significant announcement toward ending the pandemic came in December when the FDA gave emergency authorization for two COVID-19 vaccines developed as part of the White House’s Operation Warp Speed initiative with the goal of producing 300 million doses of a safe and effective vaccine by January 2021.

On Dec. 14, a nurse in New York became the first recipient of a COVID-19 vaccine in the United States in what was being hailed as the “first step toward the end of the pandemic.” Later that day five University of Louisville frontline healthcare workers became the first people in the state to receive the vaccine.

On Christmas Eve, Ohio County Healthcare administered the first COVID-19 vaccines in Ohio County with Dr. Elizabeth Ottman, OCH’s chief of surgery, receiving the first dose.

As of Monday, over 835,000 Kentuckians, approximately 25% of the state’s adult population, have now received at least one dose of one of the three vaccines, Beshear reported during his press briefing.

Some significant events from the previous year include:

March

March 6 - Gov. Beshear announced the first confirmed case of COVID-19 in Harrison County.

March 10 - the governor limited visits to long-term care facilities and nursing homes, except for end-of-life circumstances and closed all state prisons to visitors.

March 11 - Gov. Beshear recommended social distancing for everyone, instructed schools to be prepared to close on as little as 72-hours notice and advised that community gatherings be canceled or postponed.

March 12 - the State Sweet 16 Tournaments were canceled as well as the NCAA March Madness Tournament.

March 13 - based on the recommendation of Gov. Beshear, Ohio County Schools closed on March 16-April 5 and implemented non-traditional instruction days during the time off. Schools and daycares began closing statewide and colleges were canceling the remaining of their spring semester. It was recommended that all senior centers close.

March 16 - the governor announced that all bars and restaurants would close to indoor dining.

March 17 - effective at 5 p.m. all State and Ohio County government offices closed to in-person services until further notice.

March 18 - all public-facing, non-essential, businesses were to close by 5 p.m. Beshear had called for a halt to religious services on March 11, but by March 18 most had suspended services opting for virtual worship. Beshear’s administration also recommended businesses utilize telecommuting.

The primary elections were suspended until June 23.

March 22 - all retail businesses that were not life-sustaining were to close by 8 p.m.

April

April 1 - Ohio County saw its first confirmed case of COVID-19. Local volunteers began to make masks for healthcare facilities suffering from the shortage of PPE. WPT Nonwovens in Beaver Dam announced they would be responding to the national emergency need for COVID-19 related medical supplies with the high volume production of surgical masks and N-95 respirator masks.

April 14 - the state loosened drive-through testing eligibility parameters to allow more people to qualify for testing.

April 20 - Gov. Beshear recommended suspending in-class instruction for the remainder of the year. Ohio County’s graduation ceremony and prom were moved to August.

April 21 - KHSAA canceled all spring sports.

April 24 - all Kentucky voters would be allowed to vote by mail-in ballot for the primary.

April 27 - Kentucky began its slow-phased process of reopening healthcare industry and a plan for the next segments of reopenings was outlined.

May

May 11 - everyone working for an essential business was required to wear a mask. Phase one reopenings began across the state under the “Healthy at Work” initiative.

May 18 - phase 2 reopenings began this week.

May 20 - retail and houses of worship were allowed to reopen.

May 25 - barbershops, salons and similar services were allowed to reopen under certain requirements. Social gatherings of 10 persons or less were allowed resume.

May 26 - the Ohio County Courthouse and community center reopened under restrictions.

May 19 - tests began to be more readily available to those who needed them. Ohio County began offering drive-thru testing May 19 as one of the state’s Kroger Drive-thru testing locations.

May 15 - the Department of Education began exploring models for the next school year.

June

June 11 - bowling alleys, fitness centers, movie theaters and campgrounds reopened as well as some childcare and low touch and outdoor youth sports resumed on June 15. Groups of 50 people could begin to gather.

June 23 - phase 3 reopenings began, which meant nearly every business and service in the state was open in some capacity. Restaurants could also up their capacity to 50%.

June 24 - the state outlined its plan to reopen schools.

July

July 9 - Gov. Beshear issued a mandate requiring all Kentuckians to wear a mask in public. This announcement came after Kentucky recorded two of the highest days of daily COVID-19 cases in the state since March.

July 14 - The Green River District Health Department reported the county’s first coronavirus -related death. Ohio County Superintendent Seth Southard announced that Ohio County Schools would start on Aug. 26 with students able to learn through traditional in-person hybrid A/B classes or virtual/online instruction. (The date for the start of in-person classes was postponed in August until September. Students would instead begin the school year virtually or remotely.)

July 27 - Restaurants and bars had to cut back capacity to 25% for the next two weeks due to an increase in cases.

October

Oct.11 - State cases continued to surge with the state recording the highest week of new cases with 6,126 the first week of the month forcing the state to issue guidance on how Kentuckians should celebrate Halloween.

The month of October ended with a record number of cases, 38,877, which is more March, April, May, June and July combined and the state’s positivity rate reached the highest number since June with 6.25%.

November

Nov. 18 - With the rising number of COVID-19 cases and the county in red, county officials made changes to the daily operations at the courthouse and community center. The doors to the buildings were locked until further notice. Staff was still available in the offices to serve the needs of the public. The state has experienced a 400% increase in positive cases over the past nine weeks prompting the governor to issue new restrictions. Restaurants and bars were closed to indoor food and beverage consumptions. Social gatherings were limited to eight people from two households; gyms, fitness centers, pools and other indoor recreation facilities were limited to 33% capacity; venues, event spaces and theaters were limited to 25 people; professional services were limited to 33% of employees and schools should cease in-person instruction beginning.

December

Dec. 11- the FDA issued an emergency use authorization for the COVID-19 vaccine manufactured by Pfizer-BioNTech. One week later the Moderna vaccine was also authorized.

Dec. 12 - Beshear announced the state was expected to receive approximately 38,000 doses of the vaccine as early as mid-December.

On Dec. 14 - Gov. Beshear celebrated that COVID-19 vaccinations had begun in the commonwealth as five doctors and nurses from U of L Health received the first vaccines. “Today marks the beginning of the end of COVID-19. We are going to defeat this virus in 2021,” he said.

Dec. 23 - Ohio County Healthcare received its first shipment of the COVID-19 vaccines that were administered on Dec. 24 to frontline workers and healthcare personnel.

January

Jan. 15 - Kentuckians in Phase 1b of the vaccination plan began, which included 70 and older, could begin scheduling their vaccinations.

February

Feb. 12 - Midtown Pharmacy Express becomes part of the federal vaccine program and began giving vaccines.

Feb. 23 - Ohio County Healthcare was named a regional vaccination site.

Feb. 26 - Ohio County Schools announced they would begin in-person learning for all students on March 22.

March

March 1 - Kentuckians in Phase 1c could begin scheduling vaccines on March 1. Rice’s Pharmacy was among those to receive the newly approved Johnson & Johnson vaccine.