HOLLYWOOD, FLA. (WSVN) - Tuesday marks five years since the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic, turning life upside down around the globe and in South Florida.
A new report from the WHO shows that since 2020, over 7 million people have died across the globe, including 1.2 million in the United States.
“We have therefore made the assessment that COVID-19 can be called a pandemic,” said WHO Director Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus
That declaration occurred on March 11, 2020, when 118,000 cases in 114 countries had already occurred.
One of the first patients in Florida was treated at Memorial Regional Hospital in Hollywood.
“And when we got the results back and it was positive, I think for us the world changed dramatically at that point,” said Dr. Randy Katz.
The organization’s declaration quickly changed the daily lives of many Americans, from social outings to work and school.
The sports world came to a screeching halt when NBA players began testing positive. The league decided to suspend the season, hours before the tip off of a game.
Popular European cities were without tourists as the world seemed to be getting smaller.
“We will be suspending all travel from Europe to the United States for the next 30 days,” said President Donald Trump in an address to the nation.
Overall, life as we knew it came to a stop.
In South Florida, local beaches were closed, airports were empty, cruise ships stood still for months and Ocean Drive on South Beach looked like a ghost town. Schools across the area went virtual, upending children’s education.
It seemed as if everyone one went, they were met with a sign that read: closed until further notice.
Top health advisors told the nation the outlook was grim.
“We will see more cases and things will get worse than they are right now,” said the then-director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases Director Dr. Anthony Fauci.
Americans made long lines for testing to find out if they were sick.
Others made long lines for food as the nationwide shutdown put them out of work.
Months later, vaccines and other treatments began to emerge and slowly, life became recognizable again.
“Once the governor opened it up to teachers, I was like ‘I’m out here as soon as I can,'” said a woman at the time.
Thankfully, five years later, COVID-19 is not the headline it once was, but it has not gone anywhere.
“We don’t typically see the same type of cases we’ve seen in the past years ago, but we do see it. Patients do acquire this virus but it’s not as lethal,” said Katz.
Doctors, like Katz, said just as people have changed since then, COVID has too and it will continue to do so.
“That’s what viruses do, they mutate, they change, and at the end of the day, viruses are not going anywhere. We’ll see over the years, maybe not in our lifetime, but there may be another pandemic in the next 100 years, who knows,” he said.
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