Two years ago our world was upended when the World Health Organization declared the COVID-19 outbreak a pandemic. While much of Orange County is coming closer to normal, the pandemic will still leave a lasting mark on the area.
Students have gone from virtual classes to masked mandates and now can shoe their faces. Amusement parks are open and there’s plenty of toilet paper on the shelves.
More than 580,000 of our neighbors have been diagnosed with COVID-19, almost 7,000 of them dying with the disease.
Our photographers have spent the last two years roaming the county, sanitizer in hand, documenting the people of Orange County. Here are some of the amazing moments they captured.
Trabuco Mesa Elementary kindergartner Penelope Parker, 5, left, exchanges an air hug with her teacher Stacie Anne Williams after Williams surprised the student at her home with a gift of a sea shell and a poem she wrote in Rancho Santa Margarita on Wednesday, March 25, 2020. Since the school is closed due to the coronavirus Williams decided to visit each of her 27 students at their home and deliver the poem and sea shells to each student and Lifesavers candy to the moms. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
April 2020
UCI Medical Center workers send love back to Orange County first responders who were holding a drive-by parade to thank them during the coronavirus pandemic in Orange on Tuesday, April 14, 2020. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)
About 500 people rallied near the San Clemente Pier onSunday, April 19, 2020 to protest the government’s shutdown of the state because of the coronavirus pandemic. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Nilu Patel, center, a certified registered nurse anesthetist joins other nurses in a candlelight vigil during the shift-change outside UCI Medical Center in Orange on Monday, April 20, 2020, to protest over concerns about having enough personal protective equipment for health care workers treating COVID-19 patients. The vigil also honored health care workers who have contracted COVID-19. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Alvaro Fernandez, 82, greets his mother, Estella Fernandez, on her 108th birthday through the window at Sea Cliff Healthcare in Huntington Beach CA, on Wednesday, April 22, 2020. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Giselle Caldwell, 9, left, and her brother Colton, 5, play beneath a tree adorned with a surgical mask in Garden Grove on Thursday, April 23, 2020. Their parents, Nicole and Jason decorated the tree using a white sheet for the mask and painted cardboard for the eyes. Nicole Caldwell explained, “I got the idea from seeing people do this on shrubs and that gave me the idea to do it on our tree.” (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
June 2020
Graduate Logan Brass wears his gas mask as he takes a photo and receives his diploma from school board member Keri Kropke during a drive-thru graduation ceremony at Brea Olinda High School in Brea, CA on Tuesday, June 2, 2020. The school is graduating about 120 students a day over three days to maintain social distancing due to COVID-19 (coronavirus).
Our Lady Queen of Angels Catholic Church in Newport Beach opened its doors on Sunday, June 14, 2020. Parishioners said they were overwhelmed to be worshipping in person after almost a three-month closure by the governor. Masks and social distancing were required, hand sanitizer was plentiful, and cleaning crews hurried about after each service to sanitize. Shortly after the reopening, however, the governor ordered another closure because of health concerns. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)
July 2020
The sand in Newport Beach north of the Balboa Pier is almost empty due to the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak in Newport Beach, CA, on July 13, 2020. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)
People line up along the 1200-block of Rivera Street at the Boys & Girls Club of Anaheim to receive free food in Anaheim on Tuesday, July 14, 2020. The need for food assistance has grown since the COVID-19 pandemic began. Bruno Serato and Caterina’s Club has served more than 1 million meals since the pandemic began. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
September 2020
Transitional kindergartners Hunter Shelton, left, andCharolette Rheault are greeted by their teacher, Stacy Schmitz, on the first day of in-person learning at Weaver Elementary School in Rossmoor, CA, on Tuesday, September 8, 2020. The Los Alamitos Unified School District is the first public school to return to classrooms in Orange County. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)
October 2020
Members of the Fenton family of Huntington Beach pose for the camera at the Drive-by Photo Booth stop at the Murdy’s Park Pumpkin Party, a drive-through Halloween gathering put on by the city of Huntington Beach, on Saturday afternoon, October 24, 2020, at Murdy Park in Huntington Beach. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)
December 2020
People work out in the parking lot of Hit the Mark Fitness in Orange, CA, on Thursday, December 3, 2020. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)
With the help of a walker, Daniel Kim walks out of St. Jude Medical Center in Fullerton, CA on Wednesday, December 16, 2020. Kim spent five months in the hospital, including five weeks in a medically induced coma, while battling COVID-19. His sister Julie Kim, right, is the executive director of nursing at the hospital and used her access to sit daily with her brother and let other family members talk to him through her phone. (Photo by Paul Bersebach, Orange County Register/SCNG)
January 2021
A temporary COVID-19 vaccine super site is set up at the north of the Toy Story Parking Lot at the Disneyland Resort in Anaheim, CA, on Wednesday, January 13, 2021. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)
The Pierce family participates in the Let Them Play CA rally outside Edison High School to encourage the return to high school sports in Huntington Beach on Friday, January 15, 2021. Pictured, from left, Gregory Pierce, Sean, 10, Carrie and McKennon, 11. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
February 2021
Patty Trejo and nurse Celina Monde, RN, play a FaceTime mariachi performance for Patty’s husband Joseph, at his bedside at St. Jude Medical Center in Fullerton, CA on Monday, February 15, 2021. Joseph has been fighting COVID-19 for the last month and has been on a ventilator for 11 days. Patty hired a mariachi band to play music, including the song La Mano de Dios, The Hand of God, in the parking lot of the hospital. The performance was played for Joseph by FaceTime.Even though Joe was in a medically induced coma, Patty said that he opened his eyes and moved. She was sure he heard her, and the music.
Wearing masks and seated socially distant from one another in a balcony due to the COVID-19 pandemic, parishioners attend Ash Wednesday services at Christ Cathedral in Garden Grove on Wednesday, February 17, 2021. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)
March 2021
Sandy Zamora gets a COVID-19 vaccine from lifeguard/EMT Anthony Limon at Huntington Beach Hospital in Huntington Beach, CA, on Friday, March 5, 2021. The City of Huntington Beach and Huntington Beach Hospital joined together to host the mobile vaccine clinic. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Isabella Schingle, left, Stephane, Voitzwinkler, second from left, both of Orange and Margie and Chris Schingle of San Luis Obisbo toast with their margaritas and beers at Haven Craft Kitchen + Bar in Orange on Saturday, March 27, 2021. Haven and more than 50 other restaurants, many in Orange County, participated in the Margarita Crawl, a week-long celebration of one of the most popular cocktails in the country. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)
April 2021
The Angels season opening game against the White Sox at Angel Stadium in Anaheim on Thursday, April 1, 2021 included a limited number of fans. (Photo by Leonard Ortiz, Orange County Register/SCNG)
A visitor to Disneyland gets emotional as she walks up Main Street U.S.A. during the park’s reopening in Anaheim, CA, on Friday, April 30, 2021. The resort’s parks have been closed for 412 days due to the COVID-19 outbreak. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)
May 2021
Parents and kids wrote messages in the parking lot during an anti-mask rally outside the Orange County Department of Education in Costa Mesa, CA, on Monday, May 17, 2021. More than 200 people came out to protest children in school being forced to wear masks.(Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Shane Westbrooke, director of services, holds the ladder as Damian Maximiliano and Bernardo Cruz, top, hang banners outside the Richard Nixon Presidential Library and Museum in Yorba Linda on Tuesday, May 18, 2021, as it gets ready to fully open to visitors on Wednesday, May 19, 2021, after being closed for 14 months due to the coronavirus pandemic. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Girls hit the water as the graduating class of JSerra Catholic High School in San Juan Capistrano celebrates the end of the school year by jumping into the school’s pool with their clothes on following an awards ceremony on Wednesday, May 19, 2021. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)
July 2021
Fairgoers ride Wild River at the OC Fair on Wednesday, July 21, 2021, in Costa Mesa. The fair was virtual in 2020. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)
WWII veteran Cliff Pederson celebrates his 104th birthday with his 4-year-old great-granddaughter, Jolee MacGregor, as he gets ready to blow out his candles. He was at the Easterseals’ new Senior Day Services Center in Brea on Wednesday, July 21, 2021. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Leo Yrad, RN, takes the blood sugar reading of a COVID-19 patient in the COVID ICU at St. Joseph Hospital in Orange, CA on Wednesday, July 21, 2021. COVID-19 cases have risen in recent weeks due, in part, to the delta variant. (Photo by Paul Bersebach, Orange County Register/SCNG)
August 2021
Third-grade teacher Candace Ropp, left, welcomes students back for the first day of class at Stanford Elementary School in Garden Grove, CA on Monday, August 16, 2021. (Photo by Paul Bersebach, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Teacher Wendy Billman gives a group hug to Eli Green, Jillian Houdek and Sophie Boyne, from left, during the first day of class at Laguna Niguel Elementary School in Laguna Niguel, CA on Tuesday, August 17, 2021. Billman taught the girls last year in 4th grade. (Photo by Paul Bersebach, Orange County Register/SCNG)
September 2021
President Abraham Lincoln, aka, Robert Broski of Covina, speaks at the 28th annual Civil War Days Living History Event held at the Huntington Beach Central Park in Huntington Beach on Saturday, September 4, 2021. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)
November 2021
Kailyn Nguyen, 9, of Irvine holds the sleeve of her top as she receives the COVID-19 vaccine at the Kaiser Permanente Tustin Ranch Medical Offices in Tustin on Thursday, November 4, 2021. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Containers are stacked up in the Port of Long Beach in Long Beach, CA, on Monday, November 15, 2021. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)
January 2022
With palm trees on the beach as a backdrop, ice skaters make their way around the rink at the Surf City Winter Wonderland at Pier Plaza in Huntington Beach on a warm and sunny New Year’s Day on Saturday, January 1, 2022. (Photo by Mark Rightmire, Orange County Register/SCNG)
People wait in an outdoor triage area at Providence Saint Joseph Medical Center in Orange, CA, on Monday, January 3, 2022. The hospital put up the tent in 2020. (Photo by Jeff Gritchen, Orange County Register/SCNG)
People fill out job applications at the U.S. post office in Garden Grove, CA on Tuesday, January 4, 2022. The post office is holding job fairs as part of “Delivering for America”, a 10-year plan started in 2020 by the USPS to improve operations, provide better service and improve delivery times. They are investing $40 billion over ten years in personnel and infrastructure. (Photo by Paul Bersebach, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Protesters, including Nita Causey, center, gather outside the Placentia-Yorba Linda Unified School District office to speak out against mask mandates on Tuesday, January 18, 2022. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Parents line up with their children outside the Boys & Girls Club of Huntington Village for the children’s dose of the Pfizer vaccine on Saturday, January 29, 2022. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)
March 2022
Visitors stream into the Natural Products Expo West at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, CA on Thursday, March 10, 2022. The show will be the first Expo West in Anaheim since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic. (Photo by Paul Bersebach, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Travelers check in at John Wayne Airport in Santa Ana, CA on Tuesday, March 15, 2022. (Photo by Paul Bersebach, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Providence Mission Hospital Executive Director of Acute Care Services, Cherie Fox, left, hugs nurse Patricia Ayala, on Wednesday, March 16, 2022 during the two-year anniversary of the hospital’s first COVID-19 patient. The male patient is said to be doing well, according to administrators. The purpose of the event was to take a “moment of somber reflection and to share words of optimism in hopes for a brighter future,” they said. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)
Providence Mission Hospital registered dietitian Debbie Motley releases a dove on Wednesday, March 16, 2022, as Belia Wong, manager of volunteer services and John Samimi, manager pharmacy operations watch. They were taking part in the hospital’s second anniversary of their first COVID-19 patient who is said to be doing well. The purpose of the event was to take a “moment of somber reflection and to share words of optimism in hopes for a brighter future,” administrators said. (Photo by Mindy Schauer, Orange County Register/SCNG)
