Life in lockdown
Between March 2020 and May 2023 Canada, along with the rest of the world, was in the grips of the COVID-19 pandemic. Provinces and territories were tasked with keeping their citizens safe and separated. Ontario was among the strictest shuttering schools, daycares, offices and grocery stores. Journalists, myself included, were granted essential service waivers allowing for an unprecedented view of life in lockdown. The following images are an assemblage of three years of pandemic coverage.
Orlando Mosca, 71, gets his first dose of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine at St. Fidelis Parish church, in Toronto, on Apr. 7, 2021.
Nurses prepare to perform a proning procedure on an intubated patient in the Humber River Hospital COVID ward, in Toronto, on Jan. 25, 2022.
An air ambulance patient from Saskatchewan is transferred at Pearson airport, in Toronto, on Oct. 27, 2021.
Premier Doug announces Ontario's vaccine passport, in Toronto, on Sept. 22, 2021.
A single light illuminates a room in downtown Toronto quarantine hotel on Jan. 4, 2022.
Residents of the city-run San Romanoway apartment, in Toronto's Jane and Finch neighbourhood, get vaccinated on Apr. 21, 2021.
A student arrives by school bus to Spring Valley Elementary School, in Ancaster, Ont., on Sept. 8, 2021 — the first day back to in-person learning.
Finn Misener, 6, hugs his mother Jenn before lining up for his first day of grade one at Spring Valley Elementary School, in Ancaster, Ont., on Sept. 8, 2021.
Seniors and their caregivers line up for a mass vaccination clinic at the Richmond Green Sports Centre, in Richmond Hill, Ont., on March 1, 2021.
University of Toronto graduates take part in the first in-person convocation in two years on Jun. 9, 2022.
Ambulance paramedics wait to unload a patient in downtown Toronto on Jan. 4, 2022.
Nurse Ruben Rodriguez leads a mass vaccination at St. Fidelis Parish church on March 17, 2021.
Security guard, TD bank, Toronto, Feb. 23, 2022.
Humber River Hospital ICU, Toronto, Jan. 25, 2022.
Emilio Perrone, who was unvaccinated at the time he contracted COVID-19, recovers in Humber River Hospital on Jan. 25, 2022.
Dr. Eugenie Phan prepares to administer a COVID booster shot to Sara Zimmerman during a house call on Jan. 21, 2022.
A nurse prepares one of the first doses of Pfizer-BioNTech's COVID-19 vaccine to be administered in Toronto on Dec. 15, 2020.
A senior, masked against the spread of the omicron variant of COVID-19, crosses the street in Toronto on Dec. 14, 2021.
James Armstrong, a resident at the city-owned Lakeshore Lodge care home, heads for the lunch room on Oct. 26, 2022.
Humber River Hospital nurses run a vaccine clinic in a Jane and Wilson area apartment on Apr. 13, 2021.
A nurse attends to a COVID-19 positive patient in the Humber River Hospital ICU on Jan. 13, 2022.
RN Karen Hickman staffs the cough, cold and COVID clinic at Markham Stouffville Hospital, in Markham, Ont., on Dec. 1, 2022.
Thousands attend a vigil for a family killed in a terror attack outside a London, Ont., mosque on Jun. 8, 2021. The proceedings were held outdoors to mitigate the spread of COVID-19.
Hundreds turn out for an anti-vaccine mandate rally in Toronto on Sept. 2, 2021.
Blue Jays fans return for the first home game in two years on July 30, 2021. The roof was open for extra ventilation.
Sasha Mitsui gets a COVID-19 swab at Michael Garron Hospital on Aug. 1, 2021.
The Niagara Falls border reopens to vaccinated Americans on Aug. 9, 2021.
The body of a deceased resident of Roberta Place long term care home, in Barrie, Ont., is removed on Jan. 18, 2021.
Eli Stern, with his mother Hyla Robicsek’s hand on his shoulder, receives a dose of COVID-19 vaccine at a clinic in North York on Nov. 25, 2021.
Maria Rey, 27, gets her first does at an overnight clinic in Mississauga, Ont., on May 16 and 17, 2021.
An emergency alert notifying Ontarians of a stay-at-home orders is pictured on the photographer's iPhone while inside Centenary Hospital, in Scarborough, on Apr. 8, 2021.
A mass vaccination clinic at the Ontario Khalsa Darbar, in Mississauga, Ont., on May 4, 2021.
Residents and staff at the city-owned Lakeshore Lodge care home prepare for lunch on Oct. 26, 2022.
Devotees attend a Diwali prayer at the Hindu Sabha temple, in Brampton, on Nov. 4, 2021.
Conservative party Leader Erin O’Toole, along with his family, attend a campaign stop at Dog Tales rescue sanctuary, in King City, Ont., on Aug. 30, 2021.
Police clear an encampment at Lamport Stadium, in downtown Toronto, on July 21, 2021.
Humber River Hospital nurses administer the shots o residents of the San Romanoway apartments, in Toronto, on Apr. 21, 2021.
Chinatown, Toronto, Feb. 2, 2022.
Remembrance Day, Old City Hall cenotaph, Toronto 2021.
Sophie Kypreos, 86, on staff appreciation day at the Tony Stacey Centre For Veterans Care, in Scarborough, on Oct. 15, 2021.
Travellers transit through Toronto’s Pearson airport on Jun. 23, 2022.