Jim Krumel: Thursday marks one year of life during a pandemic Jim Krumel It’s debatable when history should mark the beginning of COVID-19. We do know the World Health Organization didn’t declare it a pandemic until March 11, 2020 — a year ago this Thursday. But by then, we were already in the thick of fighting an enemy we couldn’t see. I plead guilty to being one of the late believers about the virus. It wasn’t until the NCAA canceled March Madness a year ago that I was convinced the virus was serious. Money talks. And the message sent from that loss of money was loud and clear.