ALBANY, Ga. (WALB) - 5 years ago today, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared COVID-19 a pandemic. Life as we knew it was altered — social distancing, wearing masks and isolation became our new norm.

Close to 150 million cases of the virus have been reported in America, with close to 1.2 million people dying from the disease. Dougherty County was considered an early hotspot for the virus.

Like other hospitals nationwide, Phoebe was not prepared for the ‘Crisis at Home.’

“We need to be prepared locally and that’s how we’re embracing the idea that it may happen here, never really thinking that we were going to be one of the early entrance into the pandemic,” said Dr. James Black, Director of Emergency Medicine at Phoebe Health System.

Months before Coronavirus became a concern in the U.S., Dr. Black, Director of Emergency Medicine, and head officials began taking stock and preparing.

“You never saw the peak, you’re always hoping that it was going to peak, but it never did. But I don’t think that any of us could have imagined that it was going to be as devastating as it was and as widespread as it was,” said Dr. Black.

Dougherty County was one of the worst COVID-19 hot spots in the nation. The initial outbreak was linked to a 67-year-old man who didn’t know he had COVID when he attended a funeral at the Martin Luther King Funeral Home Chapel in Albany. That night, the man was admitted to Phoebe after experiencing shortness of breath.

“There are a lot of reasons why he would have been short of breath, and it was also flu season. So, there were a lot of other things other than COVID, and at that time we couldn’t even test for COVID,” said Dr. Black.

A few days later, the man would be transferred to Atlanta. There, he tested positive for COVID-19 and died on March 12, marking the state’s first Coronavirus death.

When asked when the seriousness of the disease began to sink in for Dr. Black, he said, “We were waiting to hear, but we kind of, in the back of our mind, as things started to evolve, knew. At the same time, we started seeing more and more patients locally. So, I think we knew, but [the 67-year-old’s death] was the first real hit in the face that it’s here and it’s deadly,” Dr. Black answered.

Sick patients began pouring into the emergency room. Within a month, hundreds became sick, and dozens of people died. Dougherty County Coroner Michael Fowler said it got to a point where they stopped counting the number of deaths.

“So, in a sense it was like a bombshell dropped that day. I mean, the next week we had 17 die. The following week, we had 28 to die. That was just a lot of people just dying that you know.”

Fowler and Dr. Black have worked several crises, but both agreed they had never seen anything like this before, especially something that hit this close to home.

“I didn’t know those individuals, but being able to come to people’s houses that you knew, you worked with, your co-workers. I had family members to die from it. So, these individuals that you know locally and that you’ve been around, and you have to zip them up in a body bag — It was more touching because they were just here yesterday,” said Fowler.

The pandemic put a strain on the frontline workers and medical supplies. Phoebe employees made homemade masks and face shields, because the hospital went through a six-month stockpile of PPE supplies in a matter of weeks.

“I think one of the things we learned was early community involvement, being very transparent with what we’re dealing with, asking for additional aid and resources early on is critical,” said Dr. Black.

Dr. Black said he appreciates the community’s involvement, whose help allowed them manage as well as they did.

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