SOUTHWEST MISSOURI — This weekend marks a big milestone in the pandemic – one year since the first official case of coronavirus was confirmed in the state of Missouri. A lot has happened since then.

Kandy Frazier, Carthage, said, “This has been a tough year.”

A common theme for the last 12 months. That’s how long it’s been since the first confirmed case of covid-19 in Missouri on March 7th.

Dr. Rob McNab, Freeman Covid-19 Services, said, “I think this time last year the only thing I knew about covid was the word.”

Since then, it’s been a steep learning curve for the medical profession.

“We literally had no treatment – not one treatment. So this past year has been a grand experiment in what is effective and what is not effective in treating covid.”

Interacting in public went from a stay-at-home order to mask mandates and social distancing. Restaurants went curbside and there were extra precautions for first responders.

Steve Lawver, CJ City Administrator, said, “It hit the PD really hard there for awhile.”

And then there were the schools. Schools went virtual at Spring break.

Steve Gilbreth, JHS Principal, said, “The whole world got shut down; not just Joplin, not just the state of Missouri not just the us, everywhere in the world.”

Most re-opened in the Fall with pandemic protocols. Joplin High School took the precaution of a hybrid schedule which is just now returning to five days a week on campus.

“We think wow we’ve learned so many things maybe we have a different mindset for doing school.”

Not something limited to JHS or the city of Joplin.

“After 32 years in education, I can honestly say this has been the most challenging and surprising year,” said Frazier.