It’s been almost five years since the impacts of the global COVID-19 pandemic finally found their way to the Cowichan Valley, and they were far more momentous than what I had first envisioned at the time.
I remember in March of 2020 when I interviewed Canada’s “Queen of the Fiddle” Natalie MacMaster from Cape Breton who was scheduled to perform at the Cowichan Performing Arts Centre in a few weeks.
A few days after that interview, the arts centre cancelled MacMaster’s show, and pretty much every other performance that it had scheduled for the near future.
One of the officials at the arts centre, whose name I can’t recall all these years later, called me shortly after MacMaster’s interview went to print to tell me the show was cancelled and asked that we put that in the newspaper so people would know.
I asked him when the show would be rescheduled, fully expecting that the impending closures that were being discussed on all the news networks wouldn’t last much more than a few weeks, at best.
But the official obviously was privy to more information than I was at the time, and he told me that he expected the shutdown of the theatre, and most other places where people gather including businesses and schools, could go on for months, and possibly even years.
I had trouble getting my mind around that, but his predictions soon began to bear out.
In the matter of just a few days after that, all the shutdowns began, and anyone who was travelling out of the country was advised to head back to their homes in Canada, and was mandated to self isolate for two weeks after they got there.
There were two people from the Cowichan Valley who returned from overseas at the time, but refused to self isolate and when word of that got out, I was surprised and more than a little worried when I started receiving phone calls and emails demanding that I identify the couple and their address so that vigilante justice could be meted out to them.
I had never experienced anything quite like it in all my many years in the news business, and was actually beginning to fear that the fabric of society was beginning to fray.
The newspaper for the next few weeks contained little else but pandemic-related news and most other topics that we cover on a regular basis were shoved to the back burner.
Then, with many of the advertisers reeling from the consequences of all the shutdowns, the newspaper itself began taking hits, dropping one of the two publications per week, and many staff members had their hours cut in half for the time being, including me.
On top of all that was the fear of catching COVID-19 itself, so most everyone followed the new rules around distancing themselves from other people, which caused great disruptions in how our very social society operates.
Regardless, many local people caught the feared virus, and how well they did fighting it depended on the general health of each individual.
One Sunday morning, I went to a favourite restaurant for one of its famous omelettes and was quite perturbed when I found what was usually a wonderful breakfast at the establishment was pretty much tasteless and unappetizing.
I went home, vowing to find another restaurant for Sunday brunch the next time, and began feeling quite ill.
I assumed there was something off about the omelette and went to bed early that evening, only to find myself even more sick in the morning.
For some reason, I made no connection to COVID-19 so I went to work thinking I’d feel better if I just got up and moved around.
However, I was stopped at the door and one of my colleagues insisted I take a COVID-19 test, which came out positive.
I spent the rest of the week at home convalescing until I tested negative and was able to go back to the office.
It was an unusual and difficult time for many, and lots of businesses and organizations are still struggling due to the disruptions caused by the pandemic.
I hope it was a once-in-a-lifetime event, but many top scientists say it could happen again at any time.
Let’s all cross our fingers and hope it doesn’t.
