It's been six months since the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic.
Since then, daily lives have been drastically changed.
Here's a look at what COVID-19 has looked like in the province and specifically in Northeastern Ontario and the Algoma region so far:
March 10
- Sudbury's Stewart Hamilton was announced as the first confirmed COVID-19 case in northern Ontario. In early March, Stewart had attended the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada in Toronto, where it's believed he was infected with the virus. The massive mining conference was attended by hundreds of people from across northern Ontario.
March 11
- COVID-19 is declared a pandemic by the World Health Organization.
March 13
- Schools across the province close.
March 17
- The state of emergency is declared in Ontario.
- The first COVID-related death in the province was reported. The man died at Barrie’s Royal Victoria Regional Hospital on March 11, and his death was confirmed by the health unit on March 17. He was one of two brothers who died with the coronavirus, they were close contacts of each other and both died in Barrie within 10 days of each other.
March 18
- Algoma Public Health confirms region's first case of COVID-19, a female in her 50s who had recently travelled through Chippewa International Airport.
- Non-essential travel across the Canada-U.S. border was restricted.
March 20
- The first case out of the Porcupine Health Unit is reported — a Timmins man in his 50s with links to international travel.
- Porter Airlines suspends flights.
March 23
- Non-essential businesses are ordered to close by the province for 14 days. These emergency orders were adjusted frequently.
March 24
- Timiskaming Health Unit reports its first confirmed case — a man in his 30s who was in contact with a confirmed case outside the district. He was tested March 18.
March 26
- COVID-19 Assessment Centre opens in Elliot Lake.
- A woman in her 60s with links to international travel is the first confirmed case for the North Bay Parry Sound District Health Unit.
March 28
- Ontario hits 1,144 COVID-19 cases. By March 31 there were nearly 2,000 cases, and by April 3, the total was more than 3,000 cases in the province.
March 31
- In March, 36 cases were reported in northern Ontario.*
April 1
- Air Canada suspends flights between the Sault and Toronto.
- Ontario sees largest single-day increase in COVID-19 cases, with 426 new cases reported.
April 2
- The first death related to COVID-19 in Northern Ontario was reported by Public Health Sudbury and Districts. It was a man in his 70s from Greater Sudbury.
- The next day, the Porcupine Health Unit reported two virus-related deaths — a Timmins woman in her 60s who was admitted to Timmins and District Hospital, and a woman in her 50s who was admitted to Lady Minto Hospital in Cochrane.
- Northern Ontario was put under fire restrictions due to COVID-19.
April 3
- State of Emergency declared in Timmins.
April 6
- State of Emergency declared in Sudbury.
- Provincial emergency orders allow first responders to access COVID-19 positive status information.
April 16
- Evidence of community spread reported by Algoma Public Health.
April 17
- Algoma Public Health starts releasing more detailed breakdowns of positive COVID-19 cases, revealing sub-regions.
April 22
- For the first time, more than 10,000 COVID-19 tests are done in a 24-hour period in Ontario.
April 24
- With 640 new cases, it remains the highest number of cases reported in the province in a single day.
April 30
- April had the highest case count for northeastern Ontario health units, with 123 cases being reported. The top health units were Sudbury with 44 cases, and the Porcupine Health Unit with 42. It put the case count for the region at 159.*
- There were 86 deaths reported. It is the highest number of deaths confirmed by the province in a single day.
May 4
- The province allows some seasonal businesses and essential construction projects to open with strict guidelines.
May 5
- There were 1,043 people hospitalized in Ontario with COVID-19, including 223 people in intensive care. This is the highest number of people hospitalized at one time during the pandemic.
May 6
- Outbreak declared at Extendicare Maple View in the Sault, when three residents test positive.
May 7
- Algoma Public health completes COVID-19 testing of residents, staff at all area long-term care homes.
- Ontario announces plans to resume scheduled surgeries and procedures
May 15
- Provincial fire ban implemented due to COVID-19 lifted.
May 19
- Province announces plans to to launch independent commission into long-term care home system.
- Northern Ontario entered Stage 1 of the provincial reopening plan, which allowed drive-in religious gatherings, reopening of some outdoor recreational amenities.
- Golf courses reopened, as did marinas, public boat launches and private parks and campgrounds.
- Some in-store shopping also resumed with new restrictions.
May 21
- Local school boards decide to go with virtual graduation ceremonies amid school closures.
May 25
- Local Assessment Centre expands testing criteria.
May 31
- The number of confirmed cases dropped, with 32 being reported in northeastern Ontario. It put the overall count in the region at 191.*
June 4
- Ontario labs processed 20,000 tests in 24 hours, the first-time for this number of tests. Since then, the province has reported as many as 33,000 tests processed in a single day.
June 12
- Northern Ontario regions moved into the second phase of reopening Ontario.
- Places of worship were allowed to open with attendance limited to 30 per cent of the building capacity.
- Patios, hairsalons, malls, additional camping, and more were also allowed to reopen, along with childcare operators, following strict protocols.
- The limit on social gatherings across the province is increasing from five to ten people.
June 18
- Province announces cautious restart to visits to long-term care homes, retirement homes, group homes, and other congregate living homes.
June 26
- Elliot Lake long-term care homes reopen to visitors.
July 8
- Public Health Sudbury and District's mandatory mask or face covering mandate for indoor public spaces went into effect.
- Health units in communities in all of Northern Ontario quickly followed suit and the mandate is now across the region.
- Elliot Lake City Council implements mask regulations.
July 17
- Algoma Public Health announces mandatory indoor masking order.
- Northern Ontario entered stage three of reopening.
- The limit for indoor gatherings increased to a maximum of 50 people, and outdoor gatherings to maximum of 100 people. Physical distancing is required for both. The limit of 10 people for a social circle remained the same.
- Dine-in restaurants, bars, gyms, most personal care services, recreational facilities, team sports, and tour and guide services were among the businesses allowed to open.
- Elliot Lake Hospital restarts limited visiting in reopening Phase 3.
July 27
-
Canada makes exception for U.S. students planning to study north of border.
July 30
- Ontario announced that students would return to class in person in September. Families can also still opt for distance learning.
July 31
- There were 36 new cases reported in Northern Ontario, with most of them being out of the Sudbury area where 22 cases were confirmed. It put the overall tally for the region at 240.*
- Bars, restaurants now required to keep customer logs for COVID-19 contact tracing.
- COVID Alert app becomes available in Ontario.
August 9-15
- This week the province confirmed 598 cases over seven days, the lowest number of new cases in more than four months.
Aug. 11
- Ontario reports 57 new COVID cases, but removes 24 old cases, marking the lowest number of new cases reported in a day since the onset of the pandemic.
Aug. 17
- Algoma Public Health scraps weekend COVID-19 stats, number of pending tests as part of province-wide transition to new public health case, contact management system.
Aug. 19
- Timmins state of emergency lifted.
Aug. 31
- With nine new cases reported, it's the slowest month so far for new COVID-19 cases. At month's end, 249 cases had been reported in northeastern Ontario.*
Sept. 9
- Ontario government announces it will pause reopening plan for four weeks, citing concerns about uptick in COVID-19 cases.
Sept. 11
- So far, two new cases have been reported in the north.
* The numbers for the northeastern Ontario's monthly numbers are from the Ontario database. The test reported dates in the database may differ from when the information was reported by individual health units. The number of cases reported by the North Bay Parry Sound District and the cases reported by Public Health Ontario also do not match. The health unit has confirmed 37 cases, while the province is reporting 35 cases.
