March 13th 2020: The Day The World Shutdown

March 13th, 2020: the day the world shut down. The past two years since then have been nothing less than a rollercoaster. Starting with the COVID-19 pandemic, the world has been taken by storm with the notion of change. Let’s recap the events of the years that are sure to go down in history.

The COVID-19 Pandemic

On March 13th, 2020, the coronavirus had just become a topic worthy of conversation and concern, a world before mask mandates and lockdowns. The virus had already caused major concerns in China and Italy by this time, slowly spreading throughout the world. Two days prior, on March 11th, 2020, the World Health Organization officially declared the outbreak as a pandemic. These words are so commonly used today, but two years ago, worry and distress spread throughout the population as schools shut down and vacations were cancelled. At the time gatherings and major events were getting postponed for the foreseeable future, sports events with big crowds were cancelled, schools made announcements to shut down and move to online learning, and governments were in a hurry to keep their people safe. The week of March 11th may have been one of the longest and most confusing weeks of our lives as toilet paper was in shortage, masks and sanitizers were being bought, and an uncertain future awaited us. However, the world has since adapted and grown to overcome the pandemic. With numerous amount of variants, notable ones being Delta and Omicron, and two long years of deaths, masks, and lockdowns, restrictions are finally starting to ease as a return to normalcy may be in our near future.

Social Justice

With the pandemic, various social justice movements received a lot of uproars. In May of 2020, George Floyd was killed by members of the Minneapolis police. This sparked a colossal uproar for the Black Lives Matter movement, throughout the United States, as people wanted justice for those treated unjustly at the hands of the police. More attention was paid to cases similar to Floyd’s, and while we are one step closer, we still have a long way to go before Black people, and people of colour are given the same opportunities as their peers. Not just the Black Lives Matter movement, but a number of social justice issues gained recognition. With the rise of the pandemic, the world experienced a massive spike in hate crimes against those of Asian nationalities. Many blamed them for the events of the pandemic, especially more in Western countries. While both these issues are still prevailing in today’s world, the pandemic helped bring more awareness to them, getting people involved in taking steps to create an effective change.

While the last couple of years have been nothing like we imagined, we have managed to adapt and get through the ups and downs a pandemic brings. Not only did it bring us closer as a community, but it also allowed us to grow and adapt as humans. Although many cannot wait for their ‘normal lives’ back, this pandemic has allowed many to take a look at the world, and societies they live in and take measures to create change.

Sources:

Abreu, Danielle. “The Day Everything Changed: A Timeline of March 11, 2020.” NBC 7 San Diego, NBC San Diego, 11 Mar. 2021, www.nbcsandiego.com/news/coronavirus/the-day-everything-changed-a-timeline-of-march-11-2020/2545558/.

Wamsley, Laurel. “March 11, 2020: The Day Everything Changed.” NPR, NPR, 11 Mar. 2021, www.npr.org/2021/03/11/975663437/march-11-2020-the-day-everything-changed.