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EDITOR'S NOTE: Through Thursday, The Times Leader presents Eastern Ohio's Top 10 news stories of 2020, as voted on by the editorial staff.
ST. CLAIRSVILLE -- As COVID-19 expanded its reach into the United States, Belmont County was the first in the local area to be struck in March by the virus that has since sickened more than 8,000 people in Eastern Ohio.
The pandemic made its way into the region by infecting a local couple who had traveled to Washington, D.C., to attend the Conservative Political Action Conference. But it wasn't long before the illness began to creep in from all directions, with health department officials pointing to our interstate highways as an easy means of transmission.
Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine and the Ohio Department of Health took the unprecedented step of closing polling locations during the March 17 primary, citing potential exposure to the virus as a public health emergency. The election was subsequently held mainly via mail-in voting.
Schools across the state were also closed and ordered to conduct classes via the internet and remote learning. Non-essential businesses were ordered to shut down, and millions began seeking unemployment assistance as they were laid off from their jobs.
Many people rebelled against early orders to don face coverings in public, but eventually face masks became fairly commonplace in stores, restaurants, offices and other public settings.
Although local cases remained fairly isolated at the outset, soon the disease made its way into Stellar Care Center in Monroe County, where a month-long outbreak affected at least 60 residents and staff and claimed more than a dozen lives. About the same time in May, the virus infiltrated Belmont Correctional Institution west of St. Clairsville, infecting dozens of staffers and inmates. Nine of those inmates died.
Throughout the summer months, when people could be outdoors more and more easily maintain social distancing, case numbers seemed to level off. Many events were canceled or altered to help stop the spread of the virus or "flatten the curve." Among the events that became casualties of the virus were the Blame My Roots Fest country music festival, the Upper Ohio Valley Italian Festival in Wheeling, most of the Belmont County Fair and the Barnesville Pumpkin Festival.
The fall and winter high school sports seasons also have been affected, as students have had to switch between in-person classes and remote learning, according to the prevalence of the illness in various schools. And the holiday season looked very different this year, with families gathering via online platforms and Black Friday sales canceled.
The spread of the disease began worldwide in Asia in late 2019, with the first deaths in America coming months later in early February. On April 6, the Ohio Valley saw its first death from the disease in Belmont County.
New cases and deaths alike continued to be announced daily in both Ohio and West Virginia, escalating most notably in November. Dozens of cases, as many as 64 in one day, were announced alongside the day's death toll each evening by the Wheeling-Ohio County and Marshall County health departments.
Despite the tumultuous Year of the Coronavirus, the first steps toward emerging from a particularly bleak start to the decade are happening.
On Dec. 15, the first doses of the COVID-19 vaccine were distributed in West Virginia, with frontline health care workers being the first to be inoculated with the Pfizer-manufactured vaccine.
Vials of vaccine first arrived in Eastern Ohio on Dec. 22, since the area did not have the facilities to provide the "ultra-cold storage" necessary for the Pfizer version of the shot. Instead, the Moderna vaccine is now being administered to health care workers in Belmont, Harrison, Jefferson and Monroe counties. Some parts of Ohio received the Pfizer vaccine earlier in the month.
Although the Buckeye State's vaccination program has not yet been completely outlined, health care workers are first in line, followed by nursing home staff and residents, some health department personnel, first responders and others. Further down the line are educators and the elderly at large. Officials expect it will take several months before the vaccine is available for generally younger, more healthy people across the state who are at lower risk for serious complications.