ORLANDO, Fla. — Five years ago, on March 11th, 2020, the world as we know it changed. After more than 1,000 people were infected by the novel coronavirus, the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic.
The virus outbreak started in China and, after only about three months, killed more than 30 people and infected, and quickly spread across the globe. “In the beginning, Ig was really scared because we didn’t know about this,” said Doctor Julio Peranza, a primary care doctor in Orlando.
Since then, so much has changed - and research is here to prove. “You can think about K-12 schools, parents, and children who face school closures and learning disruptions. That was really challenging, and some of the data suggests that students are still recovering in terms of math and reading scores, even to this day,” said Alec Tyson, associate director at Pew Research Center. “What we see in our new survey is that for most Americans, the public health threat is in the rearview mirror.”
According to the Pew Research Center, although most Americans think of COVID-19 as a very dark time in our history, it also made us stronger. Protective measures like washing our hands more often, staying home when sick, and wearing face masks are just the new normal. “We asked folks ‘did it take a personal toll on you,’ and 75% say yes,” said Tyson.
Not only that, but according to the research center, politics and social dynamics also changed a lot because of COVID-19. “We had some pretty big disagreements during the pandemic about what to do and what the activity restrictions should look like. What should rules be around? Should masking or vaccines be encouraged? Should they be required? So taken together at the end of the day, many of these issues were viewed through the lens of partisanship,” said Tyson. “Republicans often had one view. Democrats often had another. And what we’re hearing in our survey is that it left the country even a bit more divided than before the outbreak.”
According to the CDC, more than 1-point-2 million died from Covid 19, but the number of infections is nowhere near what it was back in 2020. Now the main question: is Central Florida more prepared for another pandemic? “Yes, absolutely. Why? Because we now have the experience. We have great resources, we have great professionals,” said Dr. Peranza. “Of course it is challenging, but we will fight again if we need to.”
Click here to download our free news, weather and smart TV apps. And click here to stream Channel 9 Eyewitness News live.
©2025 Cox Media Group
