{"version":"1.0","provider_name":"The News Journal","provider_url":"https:\/\/qa.thenewsjournal.net","title":"COVID-19: How it changed our lives in 2020 &ndash; The News Journal","type":"rich","width":600,"height":338,"html":"<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"BP7CNfzgoF\"><a href=\"https:\/\/qa.thenewsjournal.net\/covid-19-how-it-changed-our-lives-in-2020\/\">COVID-19: How it changed our lives in 2020<\/a><\/blockquote><iframe sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" src=\"https:\/\/qa.thenewsjournal.net\/covid-19-how-it-changed-our-lives-in-2020\/embed\/#?secret=BP7CNfzgoF\" width=\"600\" height=\"338\" title=\"&#8220;COVID-19: How it changed our lives in 2020&#8221; &#8212; The News Journal\" data-secret=\"BP7CNfzgoF\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" class=\"wp-embedded-content\"><\/iframe><script type=\"text\/javascript\">\n\/* <![CDATA[ *\/\n\/*! This file is auto-generated *\/\n!function(d,l){\"use strict\";l.querySelector&&d.addEventListener&&\"undefined\"!=typeof URL&&(d.wp=d.wp||{},d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage||(d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage=function(e){var t=e.data;if((t||t.secret||t.message||t.value)&&!\/[^a-zA-Z0-9]\/.test(t.secret)){for(var s,r,n,a=l.querySelectorAll('iframe[data-secret=\"'+t.secret+'\"]'),o=l.querySelectorAll('blockquote[data-secret=\"'+t.secret+'\"]'),c=new RegExp(\"^https?:$\",\"i\"),i=0;i<o.length;i++)o[i].style.display=\"none\";for(i=0;i<a.length;i++)s=a[i],e.source===s.contentWindow&&(s.removeAttribute(\"style\"),\"height\"===t.message?(1e3<(r=parseInt(t.value,10))?r=1e3:~~r<200&&(r=200),s.height=r):\"link\"===t.message&&(r=new URL(s.getAttribute(\"src\")),n=new URL(t.value),c.test(n.protocol))&&n.host===r.host&&l.activeElement===s&&(d.top.location.href=t.value))}},d.addEventListener(\"message\",d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage,!1),l.addEventListener(\"DOMContentLoaded\",function(){for(var e,t,s=l.querySelectorAll(\"iframe.wp-embedded-content\"),r=0;r<s.length;r++)(t=(e=s[r]).getAttribute(\"data-secret\"))||(t=Math.random().toString(36).substring(2,12),e.src+=\"#?secret=\"+t,e.setAttribute(\"data-secret\",t)),e.contentWindow.postMessage({message:\"ready\",secret:t},\"*\")},!1)))}(window,document);\n\/* ]]> *\/\n<\/script>\n","thumbnail_url":"https:\/\/qa.thenewsjournal.net\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/4-col-CHS-senior-signs1.jpg","thumbnail_width":480,"thumbnail_height":276,"description":"(Editor\u2019s note: Towards the end of December, news organizations across the world annually publish lists of the top stories from each year. Let\u2019s face it, COVID-19 is going to be the top story on pretty much every top 10 list everywhere. Given that 2020 is a year unlike any others, the staff of the News Journal has decided to do a top 10 list unlike any other. In the Dec. 30 edition of the News Journal this week, we are publishing a list of the top COVID-19 stories of 2020. In the Jan. 6, edition we will be publishing a second top 10 list, which will be of all the other top news from 2020 that isn\u2019t COVID-19 related. Believe it or not, there was actually quite a bit of it.) COVID-19 has dominated nearly every aspect of our lives during 2020. Masks were either everywhere, as people tried to prevent the spread of the worldwide pandemic, or nowhere, as others insisted instead that they had the right not to wear a mask and no one could make them. Businesses, restaurants and bars shutdown giving a whole new meaning to the term \u201ccarryout dining\u201d in many cases. At first, we couldn\u2019t find hand sanitizer, and then it was everywhere. In the spring there were toilet paper shortages as people horded it up. Throughout the year Clorox and Lysol products alternated between impossible to find and nearly impossible to find. Join us as we look back on the top 10 COVID-19 related stories of 2020. 1) In-person classes cancelled Few things have been impacted by COVID-19 during 2020 as much as public schools have. Most first closed to in-person classes in mid-March, and still haven\u2019t returned to regular in-person instruction. Most school districts had a matter of hours to put together packets of information for students for what was initially expected to be a two-week virtual instruction period. This soon led to the remainder of the 2019-2020 school year, which left educators grappling with how to get additional instructional material to students learning from home, especially those without reliable Internet service at homes. The switch to remote learning also left school districts grabbling with how to get meals to students, who are food challenged, with some districts initially delivering meals via school buses or offering carryout meals. When May rolled around, school districts grappled with whether to hold in-person graduation ceremonies because of the virus. Many districts instead opted for virtual graduation ceremonies with students entering the schools in small groups and going up on stage to receive their diplomas with cameras rolling. Some school districts offered smaller in-person ceremonies with graduates only allowed to invite two parents with the intention of offering larger in-person ceremonies in the fall falsely assuming the virus would be largely behind us. Community members and school districts pitched in to make graduations as special as possible for seniors. Throughout many towns, senior pictures and names were put onto signs placed in prominent places throughout the community, such as entrances to downtown Corbin and in front of Williamsburg Independent Schools. School also organized celebration parades for seniors, who rode in parades through towns or near their schools while community members lined the streets holding up signs and yelling encouragement. Teachers spent a large chunk of their summer re-learning how to teach students virtually instead of in-person. Debate continued over the summer about whether to return to in-person classes with many school districts planning for a return to in-person classes starting in late August, which was then pushed back too early to mid-September and then delayed for longer and longer periods up through the end of the calendar year. School districts got creative by providing many students, who lacked home Internet services, with \u201chot spot\u201d cellular network access so they could access the Internet and better do remote learning. Suffice it to say that several parents weren\u2019t happy with the decision to continue virtual learning. During a mid-November Corbin Independent Board of Education meeting, some parents spoke out demanding a return to in-person classes now. The question of when to return to in-person instruction in 2021 is one that school districts and state officials are continuing to grapple with. 2) Restaurant\/bar closures Few businesses were hit harder financially during 2020 than restaurants and bars, which three times during the year received orders from Frankfort to shut down in-person dining with the first shut down starting in March, another in July and the final shut down in late November and early December. In mid-March, the Corbin City Commission among other municipalities voted to allow restaurants and bars to keep the liquor license proceeds they collected for a few months in order to help offset the costs of being closed. Restaurants also got creative expanding carry-out services, and offering curbside pick-up. Many also offered outdoor dining, which in some cases moved into a tent after cold weather struck. Although restaurants and bars were allowed to have in-person dining for much of the year, these businesses usually faced significant capacity restrictions, which led to several businesses struggling and taking to social media to complain about the restrictions, such as Austin City in mid-August. 3) Local ministers get creative So, what is a minister to do when the governor first orders churches not to meet in-person and then tries to greatly discourage in-person services in order to prevent large gatherings of people and the potential spread of the virus. They get a creative. Many turned to technology, like Immanuel Baptist Church, which utilized Facebook Live, or Williamsburg\u2019s Main Street Baptist Church, which used another online forum. Other churches instead choose to go with what became known as \u201cdrive-in\u201d or \u201cdrive-thru\u201d church. These churches had congregants come to the church in their vehicles, and stay in their vehicles during services with the ministers at places like Faith Baptist Church standing outside under awning delivering the word via large speakers, or Poplar Grove Baptist Church\u2019s pastor delivering his sermon from inside the church [&hellip;]"}