by
Nancy Derringer
"Like Passover" -- empty city streets after stay-home orders (File photo)
It started as a distant alarm, the kind that, when it finally fills the ear, makes you wonder why you didn’t hear it before. But by the time it did, the world was on its way to a year like few others in recent history. Covid-19 was a global wrecking ball, taking lives and economies, changing entire industries in the process.
On March 10, we’ll observe the one-year anniversary of the first cases being identified in Michigan. Since then, more than 523,000 Americans have died, 15,666 of them Michiganians. With vaccination accelerating, the end of the pandemic is in sight. But recovery will take time. In the end, the ultimate Covid long-hauler may be the United States itself.