It was five years ago today that this province declared a public health emergency regarding the state of the COVID-19 pandemic.

It was the beginning of restrictions on the way people socialize, shop, travel and gather in this province.

Chief Medical Officer of Health Dr. Janice Fitzgerald ordered gyms and other fitness facilities, bars and arenas to close and have no gatherings of over 50 people.

Restaurants stayed open under strict guidelines at the time, but fines threatened $500 to $2,500 or even prison time for residents and penalties of $5,000 to $50,000 for businesses.

At the time, the province had three confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus.

As of March 8th of this year, there were just two hospitalizations in this province due to COVID-19.