Recapping an extraordinary year
As one of the most consequential years in recent world history came to a close, the Nogales International recapped the defining moments of 2020 in the local community in a multi-part series.
The “pandemic effect” takes hold in Santa Cruz County as daily life is upended by the growing public health crisis and COVID-19 cases appear slowly but steadily in the community.
For the first few months of the COVID-19 pandemic, Santa Cruz County seemed to be avoiding the widespread outbreaks seen in other parts of the state, country and world. That all changed starting in June, when a surge of cases turned the community into a national hotspot.
The pandemic briefly abated in Santa Cruz County in the fall, but then mounted a fierce resurgence, with hopes for a better 2021 resting on a vaccine that began arriving in December. Meanwhile, schools began and stopped in-person instruction, an election was held, and crews dug in to build a border wall through the local wilderness.
As the “pandemic effect” took hold, the NI followed up on the breaking news with in-depth reporting on how it was affecting people, the economy and the community’s way of life.
NI reporters produced a steady stream of in-depth reporting during the initial peak infection period in the community, asking questions about the response and continuing to flesh out the secondary impacts of the pandemic. We also dug into some other interesting trends, particularly those related to law enforcement.
As the pandemic reached and passed the six-month mark in Santa Cruz County, the NI augmented our daily news coverage with deeper dives into the way the ongoing crisis was affecting the community’s daily, educational and economic life.
