Photos: The Pandemic of 2020 in Oregon

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — The pandemic touched every life in multiple ways in 2020. And in every facet of life, cameras were there to record the images that help tell the story.

The novel coronavirus began in Wuhan, China in 2019. COVID-19 (which stands for Coronavirus Disease 2019) first hit the US in Washington state on January 21, 2020. In Oregon, the first case was identified on February 28 — Hector Calderon, a janitor at Forest Hills Elementary in Lake Oswego.

He spent more than 2 months in the hospital and was discharged to continue his recovery at a skilled nursing facility.

There are literally thousands of pictures to choose from to tell the story of the coronavirus pandemic in Oregon. Here are a few dozen.

A sign posted on a small business in Portland during the pandemic, March 23, 2020 (KOIN)
A worker at Northeast Emergency Food Program in Northeast Portland during the pandemic, March 26, 2020 (KOIN)
Remdesivir, a drug showing promise in the battle against COVID-19, is in a clinical trial that includes Portland, April 30, 2020 (Courtesy: Providence Medical Center)
A nearly empty terminal at Portland International Airport during the coronavirus pandemic, April 7, 2020 (KOIN)
PORTLAND, OR – NOVEMBER 25: A traveler checks their phone while waiting for a flight at Portland International Airport on November 25, 2020 in Portland, Oregon. Millions of Americans traveled by plane ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday, despite the CDC recommending families stay home. (Photo by Nathan Howard/Getty Images)
Dr. Jennifer Vines, Multnomah County Health Officer, speaks at a press conference in Multnomah County about coronavirus, March 10, 2020 (KOIN)
Demonstrators rally at Seaside on Saturday. May 16, 2020 (KOIN)
Dr. Jennifer Vines, Multnomah County Health Officer, draws a graph of coronavirus cases and the spread over time. The red arc is a rough estimate of an unmitigated pandemic. The gray line represents the public health official’s efforts to curb that peak and slow down the spread of the virus. In the context of the larger timeline, Oregon is still early in the arc. Dr. Vines points to that area on the graph. March 9, 2020 (KOIN)
PORTLAND, OR – DECEMBER 16: A healthcare worker at the Portland Veterans Affairs Medical Center receives a COVID-19 vaccination on December 16, 2020 in Portland, Oregon. The first rounds of Pfizer’s vaccine were administered in Oregon on Wednesday. (Photo by Nathan Howard/Getty Images)
A sign in a Portland restaurant window. (KOIN)
Grubhub delivery driver Boni Melchor loaded her vehicle last year. Portland’s City Council could limit the amount food delivery services like Grubhub and Doordash could charge restaurants. (Jaime Valdez/PMG Photo)
The Mt. Hood Community College campus is empty. Fall enrollment is down 17% during this remote learning period due to the COVID-19 pandemic. (PMG/Portland Tribune, Teresa Carson)
Two girls play along with some colored circles where people are asked to stand or sit to keep social distance amid the COVID-19 pandemic Monday, Nov. 2, 2020, in Portland, Ore. (AP Photo/Marcio Jose Sanchez)
SALEM, OR – MAY 02: Protesters hold signs at the ReOpen Oregon Rally on May 2, 2020 in Salem, Oregon. Demonstrators gathered at the state capitol to demand a reopening of the state and to protest Gov. Kate Brown’s stay-at-home order which was put in place to slow the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19). (Photo by Terray Sylvester/Getty Images)
Outdoor seating at a Portland restaurant during the pandemic, September 24, 2020 (KOIN)
Grocery shoppers wearing masks at a Fred Meyer store in NE Portland during the coronavirus pandemic, April 1, 2020 (KOIN)
Shoppers at New Seasons at 28th and Division in Portland stand on social distancing dots during the pandemic, March 23, 2020 (KOIN)
The Northeast Emergency Food Program in Northeast Portland has seen in spike in demand since the pandemic began, March 26, 2020 (KOIN)
A worker at Providence Medical Center preparing for an expected surge of coronavirus patients. (Credit: Providence Medical Center in Portland.)
Portland-based sustainable active wear brand DHVANI donated 10,000 masks to Providence St. Vincent Medical Center, April 14, 2020 (Courteys: Providence)
One of the many statues in Portland sporting a mask during the coronavirus pandemic, April 14, 2020 (KOIN)
Tents set up outside Providence Newberg Medical Center to deal with any coronavirus patients that may show up, March 10, 2020 (KOIN)
Newberg company A-dec retooled its production line to make personal protective masks for healthcare workers, April 3, 2020. (KOIN)
A woman in support of online-only schools during the pandemic adds a hand-painted sign to her car at a rally in Salem, July 27, 2020 (KOIN)
The Oregon National Guard is setting up a medical station at the State Fairgrounds Expo Center during the coronavirus pandemic, March 19, 2020 (KOIN)
The Oregon National Guard is setting up a medical station at the State Fairgrounds Expo Center during the coronavirus pandemic, March 19, 2020 (KOIN)
150,000 Oregon residents will get postcards to participate in the Key To Oregon research study on COVID-19, May 11, 2020 (OHSU)
Lizzie Dale sprawls on the floor to play games on an iPad as her siblings work on school work in the kitchen behind her in their home in Lake Oswego, Ore., Oct. 30, 2020. In Oregon, one of only a handful of states that has required a partial or statewide closure of schools in the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, parents in favor of their children returning to in-person learning have voiced their concerns and grievances using social media, petitions, letters to state officials, emotional testimonies at virtual school board meetings and on the steps of the state’s Capitol. (AP Photo/Sara Cline)
SALEM, OR – MAY 02: Protesters hold signs on the steps of the state capitol at the ReOpen Oregon Rally on May 2, 2020 in Salem, Oregon. Demonstrators gathered at the state capitol to demand a reopening of the state and to protest Gov. Kate Brown’s stay-at-home order which was put in place to slow the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19). (Photo by Terray Sylvester/Getty Images)
Julie Kleese, an ICU nurse at OHSU, reflects on 2020 and the coronavirus pandemic.
A package of Pfizer COVID vaccines at OHSU, December 15, 2020 (Courtesy)
An OHSU COVID-19 testing facility at the Oregon Convention Center, November 16, 2020 (KOIN)
Brendan O’Connell isolates viral RNA from a sputum sample from a patient positive for COVID-19/SARS-CoV-2. Researchers at OHSU are sequencing COVID-19-positive samples and comparing genomes to characterize how COVID-19 is spreading around the country and world and how it entered and is spreading in Oregon. (OHSU)
Dr. Vicki Sands has been an ER physicican for 25 years at Providence Portland Medical Center, November 25, 2020 (Courtesy: Providence Medical Center)
Following CDC and FDA guidelines, the lab currently uses laboratory-developed tests that rely on the molecular biology method (PCR) polymerase chain reaction, which rapidly makes millions to billions of copies of a specific DNA sample to create a large enough amount to study in detail. (OHSU/Kristyna Wentz-Graff)
The health officials at the Oregon Health Authority are working seven days a week and pulling over 14-hour days in the midst of the coronavirus outbreak March 3, 2020 (KOIN)
A Pendleton hair salon is closed by the coronavirus pandemic in Umatilla County, July 31, 2020 (Courtesy: Amber Reeder)
Chairs stacked on tables at Mother’s Bistro in Portland. May 1, 2020 (KOIN)
Inside the Slabtown Barbershop in Portland, November 24, 2020 (KOIN)
An employee at Tabor Tavern in Portland bags take-out orders ahead of Thanksgiving, Nov. 25, 2020. (KOIN)
Diners sit outside along NW 23rd Avenue in Portland, Ore., July 29, 2020. (KOIN)
People waveUS flags outside the Capitol in Salem during an “Open Oregon” rally during the pandemic, April 17, 2020 (KOIN)
Most shops in Seaside, Oregon remain open during the coronavirus pandemic, March 19, 2020. (KOIN)
The Oregon Food Bank and Sunshine Division have seen a 10-fold increase in need for food during the pandemic, November 17, 2020 (KOIN)
A small group of protesters and drivers drove past the State Capitol in Salem in an ‘Open Oregon’ rally during the coronavirus pandemic, April 17, 2020 (KOIN)
PORTLAND, OREGON – MAY 01: A dancer waves a sign in front of The Lucky Devil during the Drive-thru on May 01, 2020 in Portland, Oregon. The strip club offers drive thru dances during the Coronavirus Pandemic. (Photo by Steve Dykes/Getty Images)
SALEM, OR – MAY 02: Gary Davis, of Albany, holds a sign saying Covid 19 is a lie, open Oregon at the ReOpen Oregon Rally on May 2, 2020 in Salem, Oregon. Demonstrators gathered at the state capitol to demand a reopening of the state and to protest Gov. Kate Brown’s stay-at-home order which was put in place to slow the spread of the coronavirus (COVID-19). (Photo by Terray Sylvester/Getty Images)
Hector Calderon, Oregon’s 1st coronavirus patient, leaves Kaiser Permanente Westside Medical Center, May 5, 2020 (Kaiser Permanente)
A mask and googly eyes adorn this shrub in the Raleigh Hills neighborhood of Portland during the pandemic, April 28, 2020 (KOIN)
Oregon Governor Kate Brown has launched a new coronavirus public awareness campaign with the help of Portland agency Wieden+Kennedy (Portland Tribune)