COVID 5 years later: Looking back at pandemic’s impact in Butler County
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Karen Rich, Butler Memorial Hospital's first COVID-19 ICU patient to be treated with a ventilator, leaves the hospital April 14, 2020.Submitted photoThis is a larger resolution photo sent to us FEb. 14, 2025, for an A250 photo spread.
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UPMC staff member Denise Bosilovich checks in on a COVID vaccine recipient at the UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex Wednesday. UPMC hosted a drive-thru Moderna shot vaccination clinic.
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A year after their rooftop birthday tailgate, the family of Emmett McGarvey(center) got together at Butler Memorial Hospital to recount the event. Due to COVID precautions the family had a sort of tailgate while Megan Mcgarvey and Evan McGarvey were in the hospital for the delivery. The family discovered his gender from a sign in the window.Left to right: Father Evan McGarvey, Emmett McGarvey, mother Megan McGarvey, grandparents Brian and Diane McGarvey. Seb Foltz/Butler EagleLeft to right
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The Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank held a food distribution event at the Big Butler Fairgrounds on Tuesday, April 28, 2020. Harold Aughton/Butler Eagle
On March 13, 2020, President Donald Trump declared a national emergency due to the coronavirus quickly sweeping the United States and the globe.
It has been five years since the COVID-19 pandemic effectively halted our lives, including in Butler County. Schools adopted virtual learning, the terms “work from home,” “social distancing” and “flatten the curve” entered our vocabularies, sports were canceled and outdoor dining and contactless delivery allowed people to eat from their favorite restaurants in safer ways.
The emergence of the virus and its impact is still being felt five years later. With the anniversary upon us, the Butler Eagle is looking back at the coronavirus pandemic and it’s impact on the region.
Check this page regularly this week for our latest coverage and stories on the community and how it’s continuing to recover.
Shutdown coverage was hard. Stigmas around contracting the virus made talking to people difficult. So, I settled for the easy information — the numbers.
I tracked the data supplied by the Pennsylvania Department of Health on a spreadsheet. At times, during news conferences I had to call out its discrepancies, until I stopped getting called on. Then, I looked at other ways to show the pandemic’s effects on our community.
When the dust settled, Butler County saw 55,929 positive cases of COVID-19, according to the Pennsylvania Department of Health, as of June 2023 — when the state stopped collecting data on the virus. Of those cases, 854 people died, making for a fatality rate of 1.53%.
Look back on what the experience was for those who lost loved ones, those who grew their families and others in the earliest days of the COVID-19 pandemic with articles to come this week.
