It was four years ago, on March 13th, that then-President Trump declared a national emergency for the COVID-19 pandemic, two days after the World Health Organization had declared a worldwide pandemic and 6 days before Governor Newsom issued the first in the nation “stay at home” order.
And then schools started to close, along with some businesses and restaurants, and terms like masking up, social distancing and distance learning soon became part of our daily language and in the coming months and year, on the cable news channels, the grim numbers appeared 24/7 on the number of COVID-related hospitalizations and deaths.
While mass outbreaks and hospitalizations are over, nearly 1.2 million people in the U.S died over the last four years.
Reports say the US government spent almost 4.5 trillion dollars to address Covid-19, as vaccines were quickly developed and not soon after that, the beginning of the end of the pandemic began.
The official national public health emergency was lifted in May of 2023.
And now four years later, a recent Pew Research Center survey shows a decline in concern among Americans.
According to the CDC, only 23% of U.S. adults reported getting the most recent, recommended dose of the Covid-19 vaccine.
The leftover impacts of the pandemic are still with us, from the present inflation to the past lost learning to the changes in workplace staffing to our personal hygiene and hand-shaking.
We will never forget. And we should never forget. So that if and probably when another pandemic comes along, we will be better prepared.
(Photo Getty Images)