A Year in the Time of COVID

March 9th was the one year anniversary of Governor Mike DeWine's declaration of a State of Emergency in Ohio due to detection of the COVID-19 coronavirus in the state.

Today, we want to take a look at the impact that the COVID-19 virus has had on our lives this past year.

A brief timeline of events:

• After DeWine's declaration, most businesses started shutting down. This included public libraries.
• Cleveland Public, Cuyahoga County and Columbus Public libraries shut down almost immediately.
• Medina County Public District Library followed suit on Saturday March 14th 2020.  The doors remained shut for 3 months.
• While the incidence of the virus remained low for many months, Ohio's shutdown gave our hospitals and communities time to prepare. 
• Production of masks, sanitizers and medical equipment were ramped up. 
• Remote learning became the norm for everyone.
• Education of the public about how to combat the virus was implemented. Terms like "social distancing", "essential workers", "Zoom meetings" and "the rona" entered our vocabulary.

• In May, DeWine said that the state could start re-opening, but slowly. 
• Medina County District Library re-opened their doors on June 15th with limited hours and limited services. All programs had been cancelled, meeting rooms shuttered, curbside service implemented and masks were (and still are) required to enter the building. Staff had to take their temperatures each day before coming to work. 
• Other libraries from big metropolitan areas, like Cuyahoga county and Columbus opened later, as the spread of the virus was worse in large urban areas.
• The incidence remained high in November and December of 2020 and going into January of 2021. 
• Now we have started to see a glimmer of hope as numbers have started dropping and vaccination programs have kicked into gear.

No one can really say how the next months (or years?) will play out, but it is time to contemplate what we have been through.

Here in the Virginia Wheeler Martin Family History and Learning Center (the Center) we want to take a snapshot of this year and record people's personal experiences of this unprecedented historical era.  

We are asking everyone who is reading this to complete the form below. All questions are optional and your responses will be kept private. A summary of the responses may be shared on this Blog.

My Year in the Time of COVID-19

The Center will compile and archive the responses for historical purposes. 

Imagine! A hundred years from now, someone may be reading how YOU survived living during the time of COVID.

Thank you for participating!