2 Years Of COVID-19 In Illinois: How Has Your Life Changed?

ILLINOIS — Two years of the coronavirus pandemic have brought face mask debates, school upheaval, businesses and workers struggling to survive, and nearly 33,000 deaths in Illinois alone as of Monday. The second COVID-19 anniversary is nearly here.

Patch wants to know how our readers have coped during the pandemic. What have you mourned or celebrated, what financial impacts did you face, what kept you going?

We've created a survey asking how the pandemic has affected you, click here to fill out the survey. If you are willing to talk to an editor, you can share your contact information with Patch; it will be kept confidential.

The survey is not meant to be a scientific poll, with random sampling and margins of error, but is meant only to gauge the sentiments of our readers in an informal way.

The World Health Organization declared coronavirus a pandemic on March 11, 2020.

As Illinois reflects back on two years since the pandemic hit, here's a look at the timeline of COVID-19 in the state:

• Jan. 24, 2020: A Chicago woman who recently traveled to Wuhan, China, was confirmed to be the second person infected with COVID-19 in the U.S. and the first in Illinois. Days later, on Jan. 30, she and her husband became the first confirmed cases of human-to-human transmission of COVID-19 in the U.S.
• March 13, 2020: Gov. J.B. Pritzker ordered all schools shut down, marking a major milestone in the coronavirus pandemic.
• March 15, 2020: Pritzker ordered all Illinois bars and restaurants closed, with only "essential" businesses remaining open.
• March 17, 2020: Illinois announced its first COVID-19 death. A Chicago woman in her 60s who had underlying health conditions died after being diagnosed earlier in the month.
• March 20, 2020: Pritzker issued a stay-at-home order, effective the next day, as the state's COVID-19 death toll hit five lives lost. The months that followed brought various COVID-19-related restrictions as Illinois eagerly awaited the arrival of Phase 5, or a full reopening of the state.
• Dec. 15, 2020: The first COVID-19 vaccines were administered in Illinois a day after the first shipment arrived.
• June 11, 2021: Illinois officially entered Phase 5, and masks were no longer required for fully vaccinated people indoors — a change that would be short-lived.
• Aug. 30, 2021: Illinois' indoor mask mandate was reinstated.
• Monday, Feb. 28, 2022: Illinois' mask mandate ended, along with the school mask mandate.
• March 1, 2022: Dr. Ngozi Ezike, the director of the Illinois Department of Public Health and the health official who helped steer Illinoisans through the pandemic, announced she is stepping down from her role.