12 Months of COVID-19
Early in 2020, the coronavirus — also known as COVID-19 — largely was only a problem in China, but that did not last long.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the United States had its first diagnosed case of COVID-19 on Jan. 20.
The Associated Press reported Jan. 31 that the World Health Organization declared the outbreak a “global emergency” because the virus had spread into dozens of countries.
Although COVID-19 made it to the United States, it had yet to infect a Pennsylvanian.On Feb. 11, a letter to the editor written by Dr. Qin Eisler of Slippery Rock brought some level of local focus to the issue. In her letter, Eisler recalled having a conversation with CDC professionals about the USA's suggested quarantine period of only three days.A former medical researcher for the Chinese CDC, Eisler monitored Chinese media reports on the virus and found the three-day quarantine-period was far less than China's 14-day isolation, which later became standard in the United States and other nations.By late February, economic experts began to predict a hit to the global economy, which they said at the time could affect U.S. interests and the stock market.At a local level, the spread of the virus in other countries became more apparent when Slippery Rock University suspended its study-abroad programs.“This decision was not entered into lightly,” SRU President William Behre wrote in the announcement. “This decision was made out of an abundance of caution and responsibility for the well-being of all involved.”
Pennsylvania confirmed its first two cases early in the month. Shortly afterward, the pandemic escalated quickly — for Pennsylvania and Butler County.By mid-March, Butler Health System started its outdoor site for surveillance testing. The site had no initial reports of confirmed cases.Despite having zero cases, Butler County commissioners declared a disaster emergency for the county March 18. Many other local municipalities followed suit.“This (disaster declaration) is to ensure the county is in lockstep with federal, state and county partners to keep our citizens aware, prepared and informed,” said Steve Bicehouse, county director of emergency services.March 19 kicked off a flurry of activity. Gov. Tom Wolf announced a stay-at-home order for some counties, which later grew to the rest of the state by month's end. Wolf added Butler County on March 27.Butler Memorial Hospital announced its first case March 21. Two days later, Butler Memorial admitted its first COVID-19 inpatient. Two more days later, March 25, it reported its first death due to COVID-19.As the stay-at-home orders continued, many businesses struggled and many residents lost their jobs.Near the end of the month, the federal government passed a $2 trillion stimulus package, and Wolf ordered the indefinite closure of schools across the state, forcing districts across the county to shift to a new medium — remote learning.
The county began to see further spread of the virus, including some cases infiltrating high-risk communities such as nursing homes.By the middle of the month, stimulus checks began arriving and companies began receiving loans.On April 15, COVID-19 patient Karen Rich was discharged from Butler Memorial, having survived being on a ventilator during her stay.“I praise God for answering so many prayers and thank the entire BHS medical team for saving my life,” Rich said at the end of a video tribute.Both Butler County Community College and Slippery Rock University canceled in-person instruction for the remainder of the semester.Protests over the continued restrictions began to appear statewide, and by the end of the month Wolf was anticipating reopening the state's economy county-by-county as COVID-19 numbers declined.On April 21, the #WeGotThisButlerCounty campaign began, showing pride and support for frontline workers. Donated food and gift cards also were directed to frontline workers at that time.
The state began a three-tiered system of reopening.Red, where all counties started, meant full shutdown. Yellow was a partial lifting of restrictions, and green meant the lifting of many state mandates but still required some level of COVID-19 mitigation practices.Many events began to be postponed or canceled due to pandemic restrictions.The Big Butler Fair, Zelienople's Horse Trading Days, the Saxonburg Fireman's Carnival and the Moraine State Park Regatta were just a few of the many casualties of COVID-19 and the governor's shutdown orders.On May 13, county commissioners approved to enter a lawsuit with multiple other counties against Wolf and state Secretary of Health Dr. Rachel Levine challenging their COVID-19 restrictions.The lawsuit continued even after the county moved to the yellow phase of Wolf's reopening plans May 15.By May 28, Butler Health System, which had operated only in the most essential capacity, had returned to being almost fully operational.
Butler County moved into the green phase of Wolf's reopening plans June 5.A mostly green state ushered in a quieter period for the pandemic; however, many businesses were left in dire condition. The state and nationwide unemployment rates began to slowly improve.Some activities began to resume — adapting to COVID-19 restrictions — such as virtual 5K runs and altered athletic events.Funding from the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act began to take shape in programs providing for rent, mortgage relief and business grants.Despite the return of some normalcy, other parts of everyday life in a normal year didn't return.Butler Area School District was one of the first to cancel prom.
By mid-July, state health officials saw the writing on the wall: The pandemic was not going away, and many began predicting a resurgence in the fall.Wolf responded to a surge in cases by imposing new mitigation efforts that affected bars, restaurants and gatherings.Bars and restaurants saw their capacities dip to new lows. Gatherings — both indoor and outdoor — also saw capacity limitations, adding uncertainty to sporting events, weddings and other events.“If we do nothing, we are going to overwhelm our health care systems,” Wolf said at the time. “That's why we have to act right now.”At the national level, negotiations began on a new COVID-19 aid package.By late July, county schools proceeded with socially distanced proms and graduation ceremonies. Also, the state announced the completed testing of all nursing home staff and residents, which it planned to build on with periodic surveillance testing.Schools looked into a return to in-person instruction with plans for other modalities, and the PIAA officially approved moving forward with the fall sports season.
The July surge gave way to a new lull in COVID-19 cases.During that time, state health officials continued to discuss a fall resurgence, especially as schools began to open, most offering additional virtual learning opportunities or expanded access to cyber school.Wolf and the PIAA debated whether to have a fall sports season. Wolf recommended canceling or postponing the season. The PIAA wanted to proceed.On Aug. 21, SRU reported its first COVID-19 case of the fall semester.State officials began to call for residents to get a flu shot if possible, hoping to avoid coinciding illnesses in the fall.Toward the end of August, the White House had secured eight experimental coronavirus vaccines through its “Operation Warp Speed” effort.
In early September, SRU and other area colleges saw a rapid rise in COVID-19 cases, but as the month continued, the spreading slowed.In mid-September, U.S. District Judge William Stickman IV ruled in favor of the Butler County-led lawsuit that claimed Wolf's business shutdown and stay-at-home orders were unconstitutional. Wolf later appealed the suit, received a stay to continue his restrictions and won the appeal.The state Legislature tried to pass multiple bills to rescind restrictions and rules imposed by the governor, all of which Wolf vetoed, and were later unable to be passed with majority votes. One example was a bill to override Wolf's veto of sports crowd sizes.
On Oct. 2, President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump announced they had tested positive for the virus, just as COVID-19 case counts began to rise again.State health officials called on residents to continue to wear masks, wash hands and social distance as Pennsylvania remained one of the last states to maintain low numbers of COVID-19. Elsewhere in the country, states began to see record numbers of cases and deaths from the virus.Mid-month, Butler County returned to adding double digits in new confirmed cases each day. Meanwhile, the hospitalization rate remained between one and two people per day.Despite the growing number of cases, many municipalities continued with outdoor Halloween trick-or-treat events.
Hospitalizations began to see a slight rise as both Pennsylvania and Butler County continued to break records for new daily cases.On Nov. 17, Levine strengthened her mask and travel orders by adding further recommendations. She called for the wearing of masks whenever outside one's home and for residents to have a negative COVID-19 test upon reentering the state should they leave for any reason other than business.While the virus surged, the vaccine research progressed. Multiple vaccines showed the promise of reaching the final stages of approval by the end of the year.Schools closed one building at a time and reopened them a week or two later after advanced cleaning measures were taken. Smaller schools had little choice but to go fully remote for periods of one or two weeks.In addition to hospitalizations, the county also began seeing more deaths related to COVID-19. In November, the county added 46 deaths. From the beginning of the pandemic until Oct. 31, the county had just 28 deaths.
In early December, vaccines produced by Pfizer- BioNTech and Moderna were expected and would later receive emergency approval by federal regulators.On Dec. 9, Butler County announced the addition of five deaths, crossing into triple-digits with a pandemic- wide total of 104. On the same day, Wolf announced that he had tested positive for the virus.As December continued, the county and state continued to see record numbers in new cases, hospitalizations and deaths.On Dec. 11, Wolf imposed further restrictions similar to those from the spring. Winter sports seasons were postponed and schools that were in various states of remote learning had the option to stay with it or completely move to it.Wolf's restrictions also affected businesses by adding more capacity limits and some closures. The restrictions were to be in effect from Dec. 12 to Jan. 4.In the midst of Wolf's latest restrictions, COVID-19 vaccine distribution began with both vaccines eventually receiving authorization in mid-December. The state went to work, vaccinating front-line workers first, then those in nursing homes and skilled nursing facilities before moving on to other at-risk populations.As December drew to a close, optimism about the vaccines continued, despite estimates it would take about six months to vaccinate everyone. Meanwhile, the state and county began to see plateaus in COVID-19 data on the high end.On Christmas day, the county's count of total cases was 8,643 with 183 deaths.
