On December 31, 2019, the World Health Organization first learned of what turned out to be the worst pandemic in more than a century.
On that day, the WHO office in China saw a media statement by the Wuhan Municipal Health Commission on its website regarding cases of so-called “viral pneumonia.”
A virus that may have seemed harmless at the time ended up shaping our lives and our world in the weeks, months and years that followed and became known as the Covid-19 pandemic.
“As we mark this milestone, let us take a moment to honor the lives changed and lost, recognize those suffering from Covid-19 and long Covid-19, express gratitude to the healthcare workers who have sacrificed so much to care for us, and commit to learn from Covid-19 to build a healthier tomorrow,” WHO said in a statement marking its fifth anniversary.
According to WHO data, there have been more than seven million deaths worldwide, with more than 55,000 of them in Canada, although officials say the global death toll is likely much higher.
And while the WHO has said that the emergency phase of the Covid-19 pandemic is over, it also notes that the virus continues to spread widely around the world, threatening people's lives.
The Covid-19 pandemic will also always be a constant reminder of the potential for new viruses to emerge, which could have 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 or prepare for future epidemics and pandemics.”
Many experts believe that the virus was transmitted naturally from animals to humans, but there are still suspicions that it escaped from a laboratory in Wuhan.
A male resident of Lynn Valley Care Center in North Vancouver has become the first person to die from Covid-19 in Canada.
First cases, deaths, lockdowns and social distancing
Canada reported its first “presumptive” case of COVID-19 on January 25, 2020. The patient was a man in his 50s who had returned to Toronto from Wuhan, then the epicenter of the outbreak, just days earlier.
On Sunday, March 8, 2020, Canada recorded its own first death due to Covid. British health authorities have confirmed that an 80-year-old man with underlying health conditions has died after contracting the disease at Lynn Valley Care Center in North Vancouver.
The alarming increase in the number of cases, deaths and the number of countries affected prompted the WHO to declare Covid-19 a pandemic on March 11, 2020.
“We have raised the alarm loud and clear,” it said.
Soon the dreaded words: lockdown, quarantine and social distancing became all too real.
The National cites the week of March 11, when the WHO declared a pandemic and everything changed in Canada and for much of the world.
Meeting loved ones, eating in restaurants or going to the cinema have become a thing of the past, replaced by the “new normal”.
Masks have become fashionable. People were having Zoom parties. As schools and offices closed to prevent the spread of the virus, work from home and online classes suddenly became available. Everyone tried their hand at baking. People banged pots and pans every day to honor the memory of health care workers on the front lines. Sneezing and coughing in public seemed like a crime. The list of changes was endless.
Meanwhile, the scientific research community was there I'm studying the coronavirus and I work diligently develop vaccines. Less than nine months after the pandemic was declared, Health Canada approved Pfizer's vaccine against the virus in early December 2020 and approved Moderna's vaccine later that month.
After slow start due to the vaccine rollout in Canada, the country he quickly climbed to the top for first doses, by June 2021, more than 64 per cent of Canadians had rolled up their sleeves.
End of the emergency phase
Finally, after what seemed like a lifetime, the WHO announced 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 reunited, businesses slowly began to recover from the pandemic-induced collapse, and hugging and socializing became common again.
Nearly seven million people have died during the pandemic, “but we know the death toll is several times higher – at least 20 million,” WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said at the time.
Over the course of the pandemic, the coronavirus has evolved into different variants, including Alpha, Beta, Delta and Omicron, underscoring the critical importance of vaccines. However, over time, uptake decreased. Federal data showed that by December 2023 15 percent of Canada's population aged five and over have received the updated vaccine.
And although SARS-CoV-2 is now a known threat, the virus is not exclusively seasonal. It continues to circulate throughout the yearhums in the background.
New vaccines are still being rolled out at pharmacies, but public health officials say the country's current focus is on encouraging those who most need protection to get get up-to-date vaccines to help protect against currently circulating variants.
Are we better prepared for the next pandemic?
At a recent press conference, Ghebreyesus was asked whether the world was better prepared for another possible pandemic. “The answer is yes and no,” he said.
The bird flu situation in the US is getting worse, as observed by California officials declaring a state of emergency earlier this month. Infections in dairy cows are increasing and causing sporadic disease in humans in the US
Current19:35Could H5N1 become the next pandemic?
The H5N1 bird flu virus has infected cattle in the US. There is concern that it could spread to other species such as humans. We ask experts how afraid they are of the virus and whether it poses a risk of a new pandemic.
This raises new questions about the virus, which has been spreading for years in wild birds, commercial poultry and many species of mammals. The virus, also known as type A H5N1, was first detected in dairy cattle in the US in March.
Flu observers say yes continue to closely monitor the pandemic's potential H5N1 virus in 2025. The virus continues to spread among U.S. dairy cattle and decimates Canadian poultry.
If another pandemic hit today, the world would still be grappling with the same weaknesses and vulnerabilities that made the Covid-19 pandemic five years ago, Ghebreyesus explains.
“But the world has also learned many of the painful lessons the pandemic has taught us and taken significant steps to strengthen its defenses against future epidemics and pandemics,” he said.