The COVID-19 pandemic touched and impacted everyoneâs life in some way, shape or form in 2020.
It began in mid-March, when the first case hit Kern County and Gov. Gavin Newsom issued a statewide stay-at-home order less than a week later.
And it continues today, with coronavirus raging across the county, sectors of the local economy hindered or shuttered all together, and education and religious services having a drastically altered appearance at the close of 2020.
Hereâs how the pandemic shaped the community over the past year:
SURGING CASES
There have been about 1,000 new COVID-19 infections reported each day for the past three weeks. There are more active infections than at any point previously this year and hospitals are stretched to the limits in their ability to care for the sick. Critical care beds are running out.