Four years after pandemic was declared, what have we learned?

The world marked a grim milestone on Monday. Four years ago, on March 11, 2020, the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a global pandemic.

Since that time, millions of people have died, and although WHO no longer considers COVID-19 a global emergency, the effects are still being felt.

Health officials say they’ve learned a lot over the last four years.

“Something that can happen in one part of our world, tomorrow will be in our own country, sometimes in days, certainly within weeks,” Dr. Nicola Mercer, the medical officer of health for Wellington-Dufferin-Guelph, said Monday. “I think that is a really big learning that we need to take seriously, what's happening in other parts of the world.”

It was the approval of COVID-19 vaccines that began the slow shift back to normalcy and Mercer said we shouldn’t discount how fast researchers were ready.

“I think that we forget what a modern miracle that it was that we got those vaccines so quickly. Prior to the pandemic, the technology to come up with vaccines in that short a timeline was not there," she said.

While we’ve come a long way, the disease hasn’t disappeared.

"[COVID-19] is still going to have an impact,” infection diseases specialist Dr. Isaac Bogoch said. “It's just not going to have the same horrendous impact that it once had where a singular pathogen overwhelmed our health care system and just brutalized the planet."

Experts continue to keep up with the virus’ spread and effects as they prepare for potential future risks.

“COVID never went away, which is quite a difference than a lot of infectious diseases,” Mercer said. “Influenza usually does go away and it comes back every respiratory season – COVID doesn't seem to be like that.”

The Region of Waterloo is still updating COVID-19 statistics weekly online. The most recent numbers show there have been six recent COVID-19 hospitalizations and 42 COVID-19-related deaths last year.

Key moments in the first month of the pandemic in Waterloo Region

March 3: After making headlines around the globe for weeks, COVID-19 finally reaches Waterloo Region after the region’s first case returned from a trip to Italy.

March 12: Two more cases of COVID-19 are reported in Waterloo Region. The Ontario government takes a proactive approach and announces that students will not return to class for two weeks after March break. That pause would last until September.

March 17: The Ontario government declares a State of Emergency, enacting sweeping changes in an effort to slow the spread of COVID-19. The initial declaration is supposed to last until March 31.

March 25: Waterloo Region's municipalities declare their own States of Emergency.

March 31: Forty-one-year-old John Tsai dies of COVID-19, the first reported fatality in Waterloo Region. Well-known in the music and hospitality communities in Waterloo, he's remembered as a leader and a caring soul with a passion for music.

John Tsai seen in this photo provided by family. He was 41 when he died.