Top stories of 2020

Seaway News Staff
Top stories of 2020
A nurse at the Cornwall Communoty Hospital.

2020 was a turbulent year, and an important one for community news, as it became more important than ever for residents to have a place to go for the most up-to-date information regarding their health and safety. At the same time, it was newspapers who worked to keep local government officials accountable for their handling of issues ranging from the pandemic, and beyond.

As reflected in our featured image for this story, local healthcare workers were our top news makers this year.

Here are our choices for the five top stories in Cornwall and the United Counties of SD&G in 2020.

Diamond Princess cruise passengers arrive at Nav Centre

quarantine
A press conference was held at the Nav Centre on Monday, February 17 to update the public on the pending quarantine. Pictured from left-to-right are Dr. Paul Roumeliotis of the EOHU, Dr. Howard Njoo of Public Health Canada, Cornwall Mayor Bernadette Clement, and Rebecca Hickey, Senior Public Relations Officer with Nav Canada (Nick Seebruch/ Seaway News).

Cornwall experienced the COVID-19 virus earlier than most places in Canada when the Nav Centre was chosen to host patients quarantining after returning to Canada from the Diamond Princess cruise ship.

Patios open in Cornwall

The pandemic lead to innovation, which included allowing some restaurants to extend their patios partially into the street to give them more space to socially distance their customers.

Black Lives Matter demonstration in Cornwall

The death of an unarmed black man at the hands of police officers in Minnesota, lead to Cornwall having its own discussion around race, diversity, and equality.

Hot housing market in Cornwall

Not directly related to COVID, but the pandemic was definitely a contributing factor to Cornwall seeing a stronger housing market than it has ever had in recent memory. Cornwall Mayor Bernadette Clement told Seaway News earlier in December that building Cornwall’s housing stock will be a focus in 2021.

Community coming together

During the difficult fight against COVID, the community came together. The staff at the Cornwall Community Hospital sending pizza to their colleagues at St. Joseph’s Continuing Care Centre is just one example of this. Pictured are Gizanne Lafrance-Allaire, Executive Director of SJCCC and Jason Laplante, Food Services Manager. Submitted photo.

Whether it was someone making and donating masks, a birthday parade, a man making desks for at home classrooms, or a successful Christmas fundraiser for those in need, the community of Cornwall and the United Counties of SD&G came together in the face of adversity. More than the pandemic, that was the real story of 2020.

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