The symbolic end to the global COVID-19 emergency and its impacts on Connecticut
Connecticut’s first official positive case of COVID-19 was on March 8, 2020. Here's a timeline of what happened since then.
Editor's note: Video originally aired on April 30.
On May 5, 2023, the World Health Organization officially declared COVID-19 was no longer a global emergency, marking a symbolic end to a harrowing three years.
It feels like almost as soon as it started, it "ended." However, the pandemic is still raging in parts of the world like Southeast Asia and the Middle East seeing spikes in the devastating virus.
"COVID has changed our world, and it has changed us," said WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
More than 7 million people have died in the three years since the pandemic was first declared a global emergency. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) stated that nearly 1 in 5 Americans who have had COVID-19 are also suffering from long-term effects, otherwise known as Long COVID.
Connecticut was one of the first states in the union to get slammed by the virus, along with New York and New Jersey.
Connecticut’s first official positive case of COVID-19 was on March 8, 2020. What followed was a long journey of a small state making big strides in COVID-19 preventative measures, doing everything it could to bring its positivity rate down while it began to skyrocket in other parts of the country.
It's felt more like three decades rather than just three years. Some of us refused to go online or watch the news lest we were inundated with official press conferences about the death toll and hospital capacity limits.
But it's a different time now, so let's look back on how COVID-19 impacted Connecticut and the country as a whole.
2020: The Beginning
COVID-19 testing wasn’t widely available at the beginning of the pandemic, so it’s unclear precisely when the virus was present in the state. However, on March 8, it was announced that a New York man who worked as a Bridgeport physician was presumptively positive for the illness.
The next day, it was confirmed two Connecticut residents tested positive.
In the days that followed, Connecticut’s response to the virus quickened.
By March 10, Gov. Ned Lamont announced a civil preparedness and health emergency. The next day, the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic.
The following day, Lamont issued his first COVID-19-related executive order. In that executive order, Lamont limited crowd sizes, put restrictions on nursing home visits, and waived the 180 school-day requirement for educators.
As the school day waiver was implemented, schools around the state began announcing their closure. Online classes, both from grade schools to colleges, took hold. Some schools announced that the closure would be through March 27; however, as the weeks went on, it was clear the pandemic wouldn’t let up, and children would have to continue learning from home.
Connecticut’s first official COVID-19-related death came on March 18. The man, only identified as an 88-year-old living in a Ridgefield nursing home, died at Danbury Hospital.
On March 20, Lamont issued the “Stay Home, Stay Safe” executive order. In it, it declared anyone who was not deemed “essential personnel” work from home.
It was then Connecticut residents were faced with the reality that this wasn’t just like an average case of a virulent flu strain or like the original SARS scare back in 2003.
The initial March response to COVID-19 soon gave way to April. Despite the White House’s hopes at the time that the country would be “back up and running by Easter,” that was not the case.
By April 3, Lamont reported 4,914 confirmed residents with COVID-19, and 131 people died related to COVID-19. Also, by then, about 909 patients were hospitalized for the virus.
On April 17, Lamont ordered a mask mandate for the entire state as more and more scientists agreed that covering one’s face helped ease the contagious virus’s spread. Connecticut, along with New York and New Jersey, was one of the first states to impose the mask mandate.
Connecticut would continue on to have a mask mandate in some form until Feb. 28, 2022, making it over 680 days with the mandate in place.
After just two months, the Lamont administration released plans to emerge from the height of the pandemic and start the process of reopening the state.
Phase 1 launched on May 20, allowing outdoor spaces and some indoor establishments to reopen.
But Connecticut, despite data showing that cases were dropping off in May, would experience more peaks to come.
As spring gave way to summer, Connecticut entered phase 2 of reopening the state, with related hospitalizations dropping to 150 people.
Some parts of the state began opening up, but still with crowd restrictions, limited capacity inside restaurants, and the mask mandate continued.
By the end of August, as school was just beginning once more, Lamont announced that for the first time since the pandemic began, there were no reported COVID-19 related deaths.
As the fall 2020 school semesters rolled in, so did the need for COVID-19 mitigation strategies to help keep children and educators from getting sick and spreading the illness.
The Connecticut Interscholastic Athletic Conference (CIAC) released its 2020 fall sports guidelines after meeting with the Lamont administration and taking guidance from federal health officials.
Most grade schools opted for a hybrid way of teaching. Classes were held in person and classes in schools were likely in ‘cohorts’, as in, kids stuck with the same group daily to mitigate the spread of COVID-19. Some schools would move to online courses over the semester if cases rose or if there were staffing shortages due to illnesses.
But by December, a game-changer dropped. The FDA approved the first emergency use of a COVID-19 vaccine.
2021: Vaccines and Variants
On December 14, 2020, Connecticut received its first shipment of Pfizer vaccines
Due to the limited quantity of vaccines across the country, each state developed its own vaccine rollout plan.
Heading into 2021, Connecticut had its vaccination plan in place with a phase-tiered system.
The first people to receive the vaccine were healthcare workers, nursing home residents, and medical first responders. This was Phase 1a.
By mid-January to late May, phase 1b began. This group contained the critical workforce, those in other congregate settings, adults 65 years or older, and anyone deemed high risk under 65 years.
Phase 2, which was estimated to begin in early June, was for residents under 18 years old and the remaining people over 18 years old.
But, Connecticut changed its plan by the time Phase 1b rolled out.
By March 16, spurred on by President Biden’s administration’s calls for vaccination expansion, Lamont announced that all eligible residents and over the age of 16 could get vaccinated by April 5.
Connecticut continued its vaccination efforts throughout the spring and summer, being one of the top states in the country for vaccination rates.
But COVID-19 wasn’t going away without a fight.
By mid-June, amid vaccination efforts, a COVID-19 variant was emerging across the country.
The following month, the COVID positivity rate would drop below 2%.
However, while there were other variants of COVID-19 throughout the pandemic, the delta variant was unrelenting in its push, sweeping across several countries. It was first discovered in India and soon became the dominant strain in the United Kingdom.
The United States would likely be next, health experts warned.
Delta soon gave way to delta plus, which then gave way to Omicron by the fall of 2021. Omicron was first discovered in South Africa and soon was found in the U.S. as well.
The Omicron variant prompted a run on COVID-19 tests which led to a nationwide shortage. Health officials stressed getting vaccinated, saying even if the variants are somewhat vaccine resistant, some protection is better than no protection.
Calls for booster shots rose during the delta and delta plus waves and grew louder as omicron spread from coast to coast.
In Connecticut, the state was about to face its highest peak of cases it hadn’t seen since the early days of the pandemic.
By Dec. 30, the state's COVID positivity rate had increased to 20.33%. Omicron followed the world into the new year.
2022: More Progress
As Connecticut entered 2022, the state began shifting its strategy once more.
At least 95% of Connecticut residents age 55 and up had received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccines at the time, with over 90% of people ages 35 and up getting at least one dose as of Thursday, March 3.
Sadly, also as of March 3, over 10,500 people have died from COVID-19-associated complications.
Restaurants and bars were opened with no capacity limits, concerts and plays were once again putting on a show, and Connecticut residents began embracing the new normal.
By Feb. 28, schools had the option of whether or not to enforce mandatory masking. Many schools announced they would shift to a voluntary masking policy.
While mandatory masks were no longer required in schools, the state commissioners of education and public health had the ability to reimpose the mandate to June 30 if they feel it is necessary, such as if COVID-19 cases see a drastic rise again.
VERIFY: Yes, some at-home COVID tests contain a toxic chemical, but they’re safe when used correctly
The state legislature had also voted to extend 11 of Lamont’s executive orders and to continue the public health emergency declaration.
Some states like California began shifting to what they called an “endemic” strategy. A good way to understand what an “endemic” is would be to look at influenza. The flu has a season, vaccinations, and treatments and exists within the population without causing significant disruptions.
The national conversation began turning toward when to label COVID-19 as endemic, meaning it’ll stick around, and we’ll have to live with it.
As for Connecticut, Lamont has not indicated an “endemic” approach to the COVID-19 battle in early 2022. However, Rhode Island declared it was shifting toward an endemic strategy earlier in the year.
2023: Symbolic End
So where is Connecticut now?
Mostly where the rest of everyone else is.
With mandates lifted, vaccines becoming regular, and guidance mostly coming from the federal government, Connecticut has shifted into a place where we now live our lives as normally as we can while knowing COVID-19 is still out there.
We're still barely out of the pandemic; therefore, its aftermath is still being studied.
Mental health took a strong hit during the pandemic, especially among students and young adults who were isolated from peers.
The loneliness epidemic is hitting young people, ages 15 to 24, especially hard. The age group reported a 70% drop in time spent with friends during the same period.
In February, The U.S. Department of Education awarded $8.7 million to boost school-based mental health services in 30 K-12 schools in Northwestern Connecticut.
A study by the CDC published in March 2022 found more than a third of high school students reported they experienced poor mental health during the pandemic. Over 40% reported persistently feeling sad or hopeless during the past year.
In response to those needs, a package of bills passed by state lawmakers in 2022 provides tens of millions of dollars to address youth mental health.
Action items in the legislation targeting schools include funding school-based health centers, hiring and retaining school social workers and psychologists and funding child development centers.
Some places in the state are honoring the victims of the pandemic.
On May 1, South Windsor officials unveiled a newly constructed heart-shaped COVID-19 memorial at the Major Michael Donnelly Land Preserve.
The heart is meant to symbolize all the love people have for those lost to COVID-19 and the parts of our lives that were changed by the pandemic.
At this time, those suffering from Long COVID symptoms are still finding their way in this new non-global emergency world and the healthcare system.
In March, U.S. Sens. Tim Kaine, Ed Markey, and Tammy Duckworth introduced a bill to help those impacted by Long COVID. You can read more about the bill here. American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation is also calling for more to be done to help Americans suffering from this long-lasting illness.
“Even if COVID-19 disappeared tomorrow, millions of Americans who contracted this virus will continue to suffer from enduring respiratory, neurological and other devastating impacts of long COVID,” said Duckworth introducing the bill.
The aftermath of the pandemic is still just being uncovered as the pandemic has impacted everything from economics to mental health to Long COVID.
So, with WHO announcing it's the end of the global emergency, the fight remains to keep pushing through and helping where we can to get through it all.
The Associated Press has contributed to this report.
Jennifer Glatz is a digital content producer at FOX61 News. She can be reached at jglatz@fox61.com.
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