One year in, the pandemic has changed Iowa forever

After a year of death and disease, Iowa is changed.

This past week marked one year since Iowa's first COVID-19 cases were reported. The pace at which the virus strengthened its grip on our lives in those early days of the pandemic was staggering.

Within days of the first cases being reported, there were new cases that weren't associated with out-of-state travel, indicating community spread within the state. Schools made plans to suspend in-person education, many destined not to return after spring break. The next week on St. Patrick's Day, Gov. Kim Reynolds ordered bars and restaurants to close for in-person service and placed limits on public gatherings.

That whirlwind of events was only a small preview of the many ways the novel coronavirus would alter our lives, in some ways forever.

The most significant change from a year ago is those who are gone. As of this week, COVID-19 is attributed with the deaths of 5,000 Iowans and 525,000 Americans. Now begins a year of heartbreaking 'firsts” for thousands of Iowa families who will be missing their parents, siblings and friends through a calendar full of special occasions with an empty chair at the table. Many never had the chance for a proper funeral.

Thousands more Iowans are still living yet suffering from the disease. As the line graph of active cases trends closer and closer to zero, it's important to remember there are still hundreds of positive tests each day and people are still dying. The possible long-term effects of COVID-19 are still unknown. A few patients are experiencing symptoms long after the 14-day quarantine time frame.

For those of us lucky enough not to be personally impacted by COVID-19, it nevertheless has been a year of great tumult and upheaval.

Family crises were compounded, careers were upended, social lives were put on hold, cultural events were delayed and religious gatherings were temporarily suspended. Maybe most profound of all, children have lost months of in-person education and social interaction with their peers, which carries potentially serious consequences yet to be determined.

The pandemic changed our politics, especially how we view public servants and our fellow citizens. Iowans took sides in debates over masks and lockdowns and the lines we've drawn will be more enduring than the pandemic itself, motivated not only by different values but by differing sets of facts.

At the worst moments of the pandemic, it often seemed like state government leaders were only trying to keep hospitals from overflowing, not to minimize total cases or deaths. Reynolds refused to take precautions most other states were adopting, such as a meaningful mask mandate or adequate restrictions on in-person gatherings.

The public health crisis exposed other crises that were bubbling under the surface before the pandemic.

One glaring example is the way consolidation in the food processing industry has created too-big-to-temporarily-close plants where workers' rights are a distant afterthought to corporate profits. Another example is the dismal lack of state leadership in ensuring high-quality care at long-term care facilities and bolstering the workforce needed to sustain those facilities.

In some ways, Iowans are more jaded, pessimistic and cynical about our state and its future than we were a year ago. In other ways, though, there is great hope and promise for pandemic-weathered Iowans.

In the next few weeks, Iowa is likely to pass an important milestone - vaccinating more people than have been diagnosed with COVID-19. The state's positive case count is nearly 350,000, but the number of fully vaccinated Iowans this month surpassed 200,000 and is quickly growing.

The shifting eligibility and availability of the vaccines continues to cause understandable frustration, but our state and nation are making good progress.

The development and deployment of effective vaccines in such a short amount of time is a historic scientific feat, and we're proud that Iowans played a part. The University of Iowa has been the site of trials for the Pfizer and Novavax vaccines and many Iowans have participated in trials.

In a socially distanced world, Iowans innovated and adapted to overcome challenges. Some of those practices should endure.

Government offices and nonprofit service providers developed new delivery methods. It turns out some of those are just better service models, like seemingly simple things like signing up for a time slot at the driver's license station instead of taking a number and waiting.

Workplaces transitioned to remote operations, giving employers and workers more flexibility. The adoption of remote work could give Iowa an opportunity to recruit residents employed in industries previously concentrated in big cities.

State and local governments offered new avenues for constituents to observe and connect with official proceedings. That's no replacement for open access to government meetings, but it's an important supplement now and in the future.

We adopted an emphasis on hand hygiene that should persist, especially during seasonal upswings in respiratory infections. Masks also might be part of our winter attire in the future.

A full year into this nightmare, Iowans are ready to return to normal. We would be wise to remember how we got here.

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