09-03-2025
Five years ago, the world turned upside down
It was March 2020.
We were looking for an economic boom in Daviess County.
New building projects, big conventions, more sports tournaments.
And then, we started hearing about a deadly coronavirus that started in China and was sweeping the world.
Could it happen here?
Then, on March 13, a 63-year-old Henderson woman became the first person diagnosed with coronavirus in the region.
And our world changed.
Everything was put on hold.
The Messenger-Inquirer sent reporters home to work until it was over.
A few weeks, we thought.
But it was May 2021 before we returned to the office.
Those first few weeks, we didn't know what to expect.
Would it be like one of those movies about viruses killing people in the streets?
Soon, shortages were popping up everywhere.
We began hoarding toilet paper and hand sanitizer.
The pandemic fear had really reached us on March 1, 2020, when masks began flying off local shelves as we began stocking up in case the pandemic that was sweeping the world reached us.
The first case reached Kentucky on March 6 — in Lexington.
By March 9, sanitizer was in short supply all over the country.
Two days later, nursing homes had stopped allowing visitors to come in.
On March 11, the governor asked churches to go online and not have in-person services.
And schools closed for what they said would be three weeks.
We thought we'd have the virus under control by then.
But it was months before kids sat in the classroom again.
Sports, conventions and festivals were being called off.
On March 13, Owensboro Health restricted visitation for fear of spreading the disease.
Three days later, restaurants and bars closed.
Hotels saw bookings plummet.
Child-care centers closed.
And the primary election was postponed until June.
On March 17, gyms and movie theaters closed.
Hundreds lost their jobs.
By March 20, we had five cases in Daviess County.
Three days later, Owensboro Health saw its first patient with COVID-19.
Local distilleries started making hand sanitizer.
Funerals were limited to a small number of mourners and drive-through visitation.
We reserved the Owensboro Convention Center for an overflow of patients from the hospital.
Fortunately, that was never needed.
Some said wear masks.
Some said don't wear masks.
We were afraid to touch anything away from home.
And we learned to stay 6 feet apart, bump elbows or just wave.
By 2021, we had vaccinations for COVID-19.
Some were glad to get them.
Some fought against them.
That light at the end of the tunnel seemed to be getting closer.
And then, we learned about variants.
Greek words like Delta and Omicron.
Things got worse again and we got booster shots in the fall.
And there's a new booster every year now.
By June 2023, the state reported that 39,485 Daviess Countians had had the virus.
And 472 had died.
We've come a long way in the past five years.
Here's hoping that's the last pandemic.
But it probably won't be.
Keith Lawrence, klawrence@
