COVID-19 in Virginia: 1 year in
What we know about the disease that created a worldwide pandemic has changed — a lot
Something called the novel coronavirus showed up in Virginia a year ago.
The state’s first case of COVID19 was confirmed March 7, a Marine at Fort Belvoir. A few days later came the first cases in Hampton Roads — a Virginia Beach couple.
The dominoes quickly started falling. Gov. Ralph Northam declared a state of emergency March 12 and schools closed shortly afterward.
Since then, some things haven’t changed much — many people still work from home, for instance, and some businesses remain closed. But what we know about the virus and its impact on our lives has drastically changed.
And with three very effective vaccines on the market, there’s now an end to the pandemic in sight.
We took a look at what we thought about the coronavirus back then, and what we know now.
Then: Schools will only be closed a couple weeks.
Now: The debate over when students should go back to school in person is still raging. On March 9 of last year, the Pilot ran a story about Norfolk students video-chatting with Chinese schoolkids stuck at home. Just a
few days later, Norfolk students went home themselves. In Hampton Roads, most districts only recently began offering at least some in-person instruction. Others, such as Portsmouth, remained fully remote.
This discussion is tied to another point of debate over the last year: whether children can contract and spread COVID-19. Even a year in, research is still mixed on how prevalent the threat is, but it’s clear children can be infected and get sick. Deaths are rare. Experts have also learned more about a rare complication called multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children, or MIS-C, that can cause problems in vital organs. There have been 39 cases of MIS-C in Virginia, but no deaths.
Then: Masks aren’t necessary for the average citizen.
Now: Masks are one of the biggest tools in our fight against the virus. “There is no need to stock up on face masks unless you have or someone you interact with frequently has the virus,” the Daily Press advised readers on March 12 of 2020. “The masks stop sick people from coughing and sneezing on others. They aren’t as effective at keeping healthy people from becoming infected.” Officials said this at the time partly to reserve the limited supply for health care workers. But it quickly became clear masks are key to stopping the spread of the virus, because they trap respiratory droplets that spread through the air.
What else do we know now? The best masks are those with two or three layers, inner filter pockets and tightly woven fabrics. They should fit snugly around the nose and chin and be breathable — not leather or plastic, for example. And wearing two — such as a surgical mask under a fabric mask — could help in the new fight against more contagious variants of the virus.
Then: If you get COVID-19, you’ll probably have a fever, cough or shortness of breath. The illness shouldn’t last more than a few weeks.
Now: You may not have any symptoms at all. A year ago, the
CDC listed only the above three symptoms related to COVID-19, according to an archived version of the website. Today that’s expanded to 11, including loss of taste or smell, headache, fatigue and diarrhea. Researchers at Virginia Commonwealth University are studying the illness’ effects on the senses and said that up to 40% of COVID-19 patients report the loss of taste or smell as their first or only symptom.
Then: The virus is a “great equalizer,” threatening everyone no matter their class, race or status.
Now: We have a year of evidence pointing to the unequal impacts the virus has had on minorities. Black, Latino and native populations are at least twice as likely to be infected and in some cases three times as likely to hospitalized or die. The CDC attributes this to race and ethnicity being risk markers for other underlying conditions that affect health, including less access to health care.