A look back at March 2020
March 2 – Headline on this day’s editorial: “Canada must be braced for pandemic.” And here we go.
March 4 – In another sign that this COVID-19 thing is getting real, District School Board of Niagara cancels two student trips to Europe over the March break. Niagara Catholic District School Board does the same for about 50 students who planned to visit Spain, Italy and France.
There were 20 COVID-19 cases in Ontario, and 90,000 confirmed in 67 other countries. In Niagara, people wondered: “How bad can this get?”
March11– Headline: “Skyway twinning still in the works.” The province wants to have the massive project done by 2025. We’ll see.
Another headline from this day: “Small sacrifices are big part of controlling virus.” Incredibly, even by December some people hadn’t grasped that simple logic.
March 13 – It’s getting serious. This is theday, Ontario announced it is extending March break school closures by two weeks as 17 new COVID-19 cases were confirmed across the province. Of course, it would be another six months before schools would finally reopen. We just didn’t know it then.
March 14 – Headline: “COVID-19 arrives in Niagara, elderly patient hospitalized.”
March 16– It was announced Niagara’s two casinos, and all the others across Ontario, would temporarily close. And Niagara reported its second COVID-19 case.
And this headline: “COVID-19 could end Trump 2020” (a.k.a. Every Cloud Has a Silver Lining).
March 17– Hundreds of businesses are sending their staffs home to work during the pandemic.
Meanwhile, Niagara Health opened its first COVID assessment centre and announced hundreds of non-urgent procedures were postponed.
March 21 – Local headline: “Sharp increase in people seeking counselling after virus outbreak.”
March 23 – With indoor crowds limited, a Grimsby church conducts its services online and tapes photos of 500 parishioners to the pews.
March 25– A dark day. Headline: “Niagara’s first COVID-19 patient dies.”
March 27 – Headline: “Hotels bracing for devastating summer.”
March 28 – Niagara declared its first COVID-19 outbreak, at a Welland retirement home.
March 31 – The month ends with the announcement of a second COVID-19 death in Niagara. There are 34 cases. So far.