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A year ago today, Berkeley residents went into quarantine in an effort to prevent the spread of the then relatively unknown, but undeniably frightening, novel coronavirus. Little did we know that day that there would be many long, hard months ahead of staying at home, working remotely if possible, only leaving the house for essential activities such as buying food and having to stay away from friends and family.

Our interactive pandemic timeline plots the pivotal moments of the past 12 months — from Feb. 23, 2020, when the first positive COVID-19 case was reported in Berkeley, to last week when the city moved into the less restrictive red tier and the school district announced the reopening of five-day-a-week in-person classes for elementary schools. It’s been a challenging 12 months. We can only hope that, as a community, we will emerge stronger. Edited by Tracey Taylor

Supriya Yelimeli is a housing and homelessness reporter for Berkeleyside and joined the staff in May 2020 after contributing reporting since 2018 as a freelance writer. Yelimeli grew up in Fremont and...