Today, 11 March 2022, marks two years since the World Health Organization (WHO) declared the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak a global pandemic.
Since then, we’ve seen a rollercoaster of public health restrictions imposed, eased, lifted, and reimposed, panic buying and shortages of toilet paper, RATs and hand sanitiser, outdoor time limited to one hour, fluctuating border closures and reopenings, check-in apps, vaccine and mask mandates, food outlets operating takeaway only, isolation, quarantine and lockdowns – you name it, we’ve experienced it. We’ve seen #KenBehrens and #iso trend on social media, and former NSW Deputy Premier John Barilaro suggest Canberrans were responsible for the detection of COVID-19 fragments in sewage at Merimbula on the NSW South Coast in August last year. Remember when testing waste water for the presence of coronavirus was a thing?
Here’s a timeline of key events that have marked the past two years of the pandemic at home and wider afield.
11 March 2020: The WHO declares the COVID-19 outbreak a global pandemic. At a news briefing, WHO Director-General, Dr Tedros Ghebreyesus, noted that over the past two weeks, the number of cases outside China increased 13-fold and the number of countries with cases increased from one to four. He called on countries to take action now to contain the virus. The UN health agency’s assessment was made six weeks after the virus was declared a global health emergency when there were fewer than 100 cases and no deaths outside China. Dr Ghebreyesus pointed out the vast majority of countries were still relatively untouched by COVID-19, which first surfaced in central China last December.
12 March 2020: The ACT Health Directorate today confirmed the first case of COVID-19 in the ACT a man in his 30s. The individual became unwell on 10 March and presented to the Weston Creek Walk-in Centre on 11 March, with results confirming a positive result on 12 March.
15 March 2020: The Australian Government announces that all people arriving in Australia would be required to self-isolate for 14 days.
16 March 2020: The ACT Government declares a Public Health Emergency in response to the rapidly evolving COVID-19 situation across Australia. This was the first time a Public Health Emergency has been declared in the ACT; the action allows the Chief Health Officer to take any action, or give any direction, considered to be necessary to protect Canberrans and reduce the spread of COVID-19 in the ACT.
20 March 2020: A drive-through COIVID-19 testing clinic opens at EPIC.
24 March 2020: While shelves in supermarkets and pharmacies were left bare by panic buying, many other businesses have suffered a sharp downturn due to the impact of coronavirus restrictions on community behaviour. Canberra Business Chamber CEO Graham Catt said that for hospitality, tourism and retail sectors – all of which particularly felt the pinch throughout the black summer of bushfires and smoke haze – this most recent decline was “really significant”. Hospitality owners had to think and adapt quickly in response to COVID-19 restrictions on trade that limited cafes, bars and restaurants to serving takeaway only.
25 March 2020: Weddings of five, funerals of 10, takeaway only, and 30-minute haircuts. These were just some of the new raft of restrictions Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced to help slow the spread of the COVID-19 pandemic across the nation. Just four days later, Mr Morrison declared a two-person limit on public gatherings, advising everyone to stay home unless they are shopping for essentials, receiving medical care, exercising or travelling to work or education they are unable to access remotely.
30 March 2020: The ACT Government reports the first COVID-related death in the ACT, a woman in her 80s who was a passenger on the Ruby Princess cruise ship.
30 March 2020: The Australian Government announces an unprecedented $130 billion ‘job keeper’ wage subsidy package for workers and businesses that have experienced economic hardship in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic.
April 2020: The ACT Government made the decision to cancel the 2020 Floriade festival, scheduled for 12 September to 11 October. The one million bulbs and annuals that would have been on display at Commonwealth Park were distributed over 130 different sites to create a Tulip Trail across the ACT.
9 April 2020: Garran Oval, adjacent to the Canberra Hospital, was identified as the site of the temporary COVID-19 Emergency Department that the ACT Government flagged last week. The ACT Government is investing $23 million to build, equip and operate the temporary ED, which is anticipated to be operational in May.
15 April 2020: The third COVID-related death in the ACT was recorded, also a passenger from the Ruby Princess.
25 April 2020: Anzac Day services across the country were either closed to the general public or cancelled due to COVID-19 restrictions, with Australians encouraged to mark the day at home in their driveways.
18 July 2020: A sitting of Federal Parliament scheduled for the first two weeks of August, was cancelled. Medical advice was that, due to increased transmission of COVID-19 in Victoria and the upward trend in NSW, there was a “significant risk” if members were to return to Canberra from all over Australia. Parliament returned in August with some Members and Senators participating via video links from remote locations.
9 September 2020: The Check in CBR app was introduced.
October 2020: Summernats 2021 was cancelled due to the venue, Exhibition Park in Canberra, being used as a COVID-19 testing station.
22 October 2020: After more than 100 days of having been COVID-free, the ACT recorded its first case of COVID-19 overnight on 22 October – a returning diplomat who followed correct protocols.
November 2020: The ACT government announced the ChooseCBR electronic voucher discount scheme to help stimulate local businesses suffering economically from the “coronavirus recession”. Residents could receive several renewable vouchers worth up to $40 per day. Owing to slow take up the scheme was extended a few days from 21 December to Christmas Eve. About 40,000 people had signed up, but only around $150,000 of the $500,000 allocated had been claimed.
31 January 2021: Federal politicians flying to Canberra from WA had to quarantine for five days when a sudden lockdown was declared in Perth and two adjoining regions. Parliament was scheduled to resume on 2 February.
17 February 2021: The ACT’s public health emergency declaration was extended 90 days to 18 May 2021. Every three months during the pandemic, the ACT government has extended the public health emergency.
22 February 2021: The first Canberran to receive a COVID-19 vaccination is 22-year-old registered nurse, and a member of a COVID-19 testing team, Maddy Williams.
May 2021: A second round of the ChooseCBR electronic voucher discount scheme was announced. Bigger discounts were offered and more money was allocated. The new scheme proved popular when launched on 9 June, but its website crashed and the scheme was suspended a week. The money quickly was spent within two days of the relaunch.
23 June 2021: Due to a growing cluster of COVID-19 around Bondi in Sydney, ACT Health advised against travel to the Greater Sydney area. From 4pm that day the ACT Government placed restrictions on recent travellers from several Sydney LGAs.
28 June 2021: Wearing of masks became compulsory in the ACT when in indoor public venues.
1 July 2021: The ACT government announced that from 15 July use of the Check in CBR app would be mandatory, in department stores, supermarkets, take away services, petrol stations, all ride-sharing services and on public transport. There had been no new cases of COVID-19 In the ACT for 57 days, and no cases of community transmission for 356 days.
7 July 2021: Stay-at-home orders in the ACT were extended to 16 July after NSW extended its lockdown by 7 days.
11 July 2021: From 11.59pm, Victoria closed its border to all ACT and NSW residents to try to prevent the delta variant entering the state.
26 July 2021: It was announced that from 2 August until 3 September, Parliament House would come under COVID-19 restrictions to “minimise non-essential activity” as politicians arrive for the next legislative sitting. All public galleries will be closed and the general public not permitted to enter the building.
12 August 2021: ACT Government went into a snap two-week lockdown at 5pm, following the first locally acquired case of COVID-19 in 13 months, who was assessed as potentially infectious in the community since Sunday 8 August. The lockdown announcement triggered panic buying. Three close contacts of the first detected case were later found to be infected, increasing the active cases to four.
16 August 2021: The first confirmed case of an aged care worker being infected was reported, and the lockdown was extended for a further two weeks until 2 September.
21 August 2021: Floriade was cancelled again in 2021. Flowers that were to be displayed in Commonwealth Park were distributed around Canberra as they were in 2020.
25 August 2021: ACT Chief Minister Andrew Barr shuts down suggestions by NSW Deputy Premier John Barilaro that Canberrans are to blame after COVID-19 fragments were detected in sewage at Merimbula on the NSW South Coast.
31 August 2021: The ACT lockdown was extended again until 17 September.
3 September 2021: The decommissioned AIS Arena begins its new life as a mass vaccination clinic from 10am when the first of “hundreds of thousands” of jabs is administered on site.
14 September 2021: The ACT lockdown was extended for a further 4 weeks until 11.59pm on 15 October.
26 September 2021: The ACT records its first COVID-related death of 2021, a fully-vaccinated man in his 90s who was receiving end of life care at the Calvary Haydon Retirement Community aged care facility.
15 October 2021: The ACT lockdown was lifted, though mask mandates indoors and outdoors remained in effect.
12 November 2021: The ACT lifts most remaining restrictions. Masks were no longer mandatory outdoors and in many indoor locations, except on public transport, in schools and universities, for front-of-house hospitality staff, and in high-risk facilities such as hospitals. Rules limiting crowd sizes were relaxed, and closed recreation and entertainment venues were permitted to reopen.
3 December 2021: A positive COVID-19 test conducted on 1 December was confirmed to be the Omicron variant, the first case of the variant in the ACT. Almost 98 per cent of Canberra residents aged 12 and above were fully vaccinated.
22 December 2021: In order to slow spread of the Omicron variant, masks were again made mandatory indoors, after that requirement was mostly dropped on 12 November. Caps on aged care facility visitors also returned.
8 January 2022: ACT Health now accepts a positive Rapid Antigen Test (RAT) result as confirmation of a COVID-19 case, negating the need for a PCR test.
10 January 2022: The ACT recorded its first COVID related death of 2022, a man in his 80s, raising total deaths to 16 since the pandemic began in March 2020.
30 January 2022: Public health measures in the ACT, such as mask wearing, check-in and density rules in hospitality venues, were extended until 25 February.
31 January 2022: “Convoy to Canberra” protesters began arriving in Canberra.
5 February 2022: Thousands of anti-vaccination mandate protestors went to the Parliamentary Triangle. A march began at Glebe Park in the CBD, then onto Commonwealth Avenue. Members of Parliament, Craig Kelly and George Christensen attended the protests.
10 February 2022: The ACT government extends its Public Health Emergency Declaration by another three months.
12 February 2022: COVID check-in requirements were eased and only required at higher risk venues.
12 February 2022: Members of the convoy protest against vaccine mandates, who had been demonstrating in Canberra since late January, breached barricades at Parliament House. The protesters had camped at Exhibition Park in Canberra, after being moved on from the lawns next to the National Library, early in February. The overnight arrival of up to 15,000 more protesters at EPIC caused the cancellation of the second day of the fundraising Lifeline Book Fair there on 12 February.
25 February 2022: The ACT’s mask mandate eases from 6pm, largely bringing Canberra’s into line with similar requirements in NSW. Masks will still be required in ‘high-impact’ setting such as public transport, aged care and hospital facilities, and for disability workers.
More to come …
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