On December 31, 2019, the World Health Organization first learned of what ended up being the worst pandemic in more than a century.
That day, the WHO office in China received a press release from the Wuhan Municipal Health Commission from their website on cases of what it called “viral pneumonia”.
The virus that may have seemed harmless at the time ended up shaping our lives and our world in the weeks, months and years that unfolded and became known as the COVID-19 pandemic.
“As we mark this historic moment, let’s take a moment to honor the lives changed and lost, recognize those suffering from COVID-19 and COVID-19, express gratitude to the healthcare workers who sacrificed so much to took care of us and to commit to it by learning from COVID-19 to build a healthier tomorrow,” WHO said in a statement marking the fifth anniversary.
More than seven million deaths have been recorded worldwide, with more than 55,000 of those deaths in Canada, according to WHO data, although officials have said the worldwide death toll is likely much higher.
And although the WHO has said that the emergency phase of COVID-19 is over, they also note that the virus continues to spread widely across the globe, putting people’s lives at risk.
The COVID-19 pandemic will also always be a permanent reminder of the potential for new viruses to emerge with devastating consequences.
In its statement, the WHO also called on China to share data and access to understand the origins of COVID-19. “Without transparency, sharing and cooperation between countries, the world cannot adequately prevent and prepare for future epidemics and pandemics.”
Many experts believe the virus was transmitted naturally from animals to humans, but suspicions persist that it escaped from a laboratory in Wuhan.
A resident of Lynn Valley Care Center in North Vancouver has become the first person to die of COVID-19 in Canada.
First cases, deaths, lockdowns and social distancing
Canada reported its first “presumed” case of COVID-19 on January 25, 2020. The patient was a man in his 50s who had just days before returned to Toronto from Wuhan, the epicenter of the outbreak at the time .
On Sunday, March 8, 2020, Canada recorded its first death attributed to COVID. BC health officials confirmed that a man in his 80s with underlying health conditions had died after contracting the disease at the Lynn Valley Care Center in North Vancouver.
The alarming increase in cases, deaths and the number of countries affected led the WHO to characterize COVID-19 as a pandemic on March 11, 2020.
“We have sounded the alarm loud and clear.
Soon, the dreaded words lockdown, quarantine and social distancing became very real.
The National breaks down the week of March 11, when the WHO declared a pandemic and everything changed in Canada and much of the world.
Meeting loved ones and eating in restaurants or going to the cinema became a thing of the past, replaced by the “new normal”.
Masks became fashion statements. People hosted Zoom parties. As schools and offices closed to prevent the spread of the virus, working from home and online classes suddenly became possible. Everyone tried their hand at baking. People hit the pots and pans every day to celebrate frontline health care workers. Sneezing and coughing in public seemed like a crime. The list of changes was endless.
Meanwhile, the scientific and medical research community was studying the coronavirus and working urgently to develop vaccines. Less than nine months after the pandemic was declared, Health Canada approved Pfizer’s vaccine against the virus in early December 2020, with approval for Moderna’s vaccine following later that month.
After a slow start to vaccine rollout in Canada, the country quickly climbed to the top in terms of first doses, with more than 64 percent of Canadians having rolled up their sleeves by June 2021.
End of emergency phase
Finally, after what felt like a lifetime, the WHO declared the end of the global emergency status for COVID-19 in May 2023, more than three years after the pandemic was declared.
Borders opened, families were reunited, businesses slowly began to crawl out of the pandemic-induced slump, and hugs and socializing became commonplace again.
Almost seven million people have died during the pandemic, “but we know the number is several times higher – at least 20 million,” WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus.
Throughout the pandemic, the coronavirus evolved into different variants including Alpha, Beta, Delta and Omicron, highlighting the critical importance of vaccines. But over time, uptake has slowed. By December 2023, federal figures showed that only 15 per cent of Canada’s population aged five and over had received an up-to-date vaccine.
And while SARS-CoV-2 is now a recognized threat, the virus is not strictly seasonal. It still circulates throughout the year, humming in the background.
New vaccines continue to be distributed in pharmacies, but public health officials say the country’s focus is now on encouraging those most in need of protection to get the updated shots to help protect against the variants currently circulating.
Are we better prepared for the next pandemic?
At a recent press conference, Ghebreyesus was asked if the world is better prepared for the next possible pandemic. “The answer is yes and no,” he said.
The bird flu situation has escalated in the US, with California officials declaring a state of emergency earlier this month. Infections in dairy cows have increased and cause sporadic disease in humans in the US
Current19:35Could H5N1 become the next pandemic?
A bird flu virus, H5N1, has infected livestock in the US. It is raising fears that it could be passed on to other species such as humans. We ask experts how concerned they are about the virus and whether it poses the risk of a new pandemic.
This raises new questions about the virus, which has spread for years in wild birds, commercial poultry and many mammal species. The virus, also known as Type A H5N1, was first detected in US dairy cattle in March.
Flu watchers say they will continue to closely monitor the pandemic potential of the H5N1 strain in 2025. The virus continues to spread among US dairy cattle and ravage Canadian poultry.
If the next pandemic were to arrive today, the world would still face some of the same weaknesses and vulnerabilities that gave COVID-19 a foothold five years ago, Ghebreyesus explains.
“But the world has also learned many of the painful lessons the pandemic taught us and has taken important steps to strengthen its defenses against future epidemics and pandemics,” he said.
