Posted: Mar 11, 2021 2:32 PM ET | Last Updated: March 11 Blue markings on the sidewalk along Hamilton's downtown library and food market promote physical distancing during the COVID-19 pandemic. The first Hamilton-related case was announced a year ago today.(Bobby Hriistova/CBC) Paul Johnson, the director of Hamilton's emergency operations centre, remembers the moment he realized people would be living under COVID-19 restrictions for a long time. Hamilton had already been through a first wave of the pandemic, living through weeks of lockdowns and missed family holidays. In the early days, long serpentine lines had formed at grocery stores to buy dough and toilet paper. Businesses had shortened their hours.