On Jan. 30, the WHO declared the coronavirus a Public Health Emergency of International Concern. The first confirmed cases of the disease in Italy on Jan. 31. By March, Europe was considered the active centre of the disease. On March 11, the WHO declared COVID-19 a pandemic. Public facilities were closed down across east central Saskatchewan. Face-to-face teaching in schools ended. Public events were cancelled. Businesses closed down or found alternate ways to serve their customers. The first case the East Central Recorder could confirm in the region was in Humboldt. The person in question contacted Mayor Rob Muench, who then confirmed with the Saskatchewan Health Authority.
Mayor Glenn George said the biggest thing for the city to celebrate in 2020 was the completion of their new heliport at the Melfort Hospital and the fundraising that took place to make it happen. With funds raised exceeding their $600,000 price tag, more than $117,000 will now be donated to the North Central Health Care Foundation to address further healthcare needs in Melfort. Five projects were also completed in Melfort in 2020 thanks to the provincial government’s Municipal Economic Enhancement Program and the over $800,000 that Melfort received in order to address infrastructure issues in their community. Given the challenges of COVID-19, George is proud of how the citizens of Melfort rose up to make their communities safe during this time. While there are people who may disagree, he said, most people were more than willing to do what they had to do to control the spread of the virus and local governments did what they had to do to get rules in place.