MINNESOTA, USA — March 13, 2024 marks four years to the day that COVID-era shutdowns began, changing lives for millions.
For Philip Weber, owner of the Park Tavern in St. Louis Park, it was a time of uncertainty.
"Course, you always thought it was going to be over and done within 30 days, 60 days maybe, nobody knew," Weber said. "I had never closed here one day since we had opened until this happened, so I was not mentally and physically prepared to have to close business like this."
Weber was one of the lucky ones, not fully having to close his business. Like many others, his business adapted by opening outdoor spaces to get by.
"I'm sure you could probably find these in novelty shops or antique stores at this point," Weber said, holding up a "6 feet apart" floor sign. "It is sort of a grim reminder of what we all went through."
It's a reminder that Dr. Andrew Olson will never forget. During the pandemic, he helped run a local COVID critical care facility.
"We realized we had to do something," he said.
Although that was years ago, the issues COVID caused have left lingering effects.
"We can't discharge patients who are really complicated and really sick," Dr. Olson said. "They stay in our hospital, making it hard for others to get in because there's no post-acute staffing."
For those impacted by COVID in the early days of the pandemic, those issues are still easy to spot.
"I was the first critical COVID patient in the State of Minnesota back in 2020, four years ago," Ben O'Donnell said.
O'Donnell was as healthy as could be, training for an Ironman – COVID didn't care.
"I spent 28 days in the ICU, 15 of those days on a ventilator, 12 on ECMO life support," he said. "And it just completely destroyed my body, I lost 45 pounds while I was in the hospital, I lost a ton of muscle mass off of my chest and my shoulders and legs. I couldn't walk stairs when I got out of the hospital."
O'Donnell and his family moved to Canada to keep their daughter safe, as COVID continued to spread in the U.S. Eventually, he was able to regain his strength and finish that Ironman.
Four years later, a message learned for years to come.
"Cherish every moment you have with your loved ones," O'Donnell said. "It's not just a matter of, I'm getting to the next day, because you don't know if that next day is going to be there with everything that's going on in the world."
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