How COVID has left a lasting impact on our lives 5 years later
NEW YORK (WABC) -- When the streets emptied and buildings shuttered, the wail of sirens and the 7 p.m. claps for essential workers echoed from Staten Island to the Bronx.
Five years later, nearly 65 million tourists visited the city last year - the Crossroads of the World is packed again with more than 300,000 people a day.
"We're still down about 15 percent, some of the international tourists haven't come back," said President of the Times Square Alliance Tom Harris.
Hundreds of businesses have opened and the lessons learned five years ago are still being lived today.
"I think people are recognizing the value of being in Times Square, they never lost that, we've had restaurants open, two restaurants in Times Square since the pandemic," Harris said.
After being told to stay home for so long, it's been hard to lure some people to leave.
It's where they bought Peloton exercise bikes and were forced to cut their own hair and binged shows like "Tiger King."
And many people expanded their family - 23 million Americans, or 20% of households, adopted a dog or cat during the pandemic.
And we all spent more time online, getting used to sprucing up our video call backdrop and learning about Zoom and how it would change the education and the workforce -- perhaps forever.
"I think hybrid is here to stay. Giving people flexibility to work remotely at least one day a week isn't changing," said Mark Ein, chairman of Kastle Systems.
Now 33% of Americans have a fully remote job and 43% are hybrid, but major companies, and even the federal government, are ordering employees back to the office.
And the impacts on students continue. Those old school snow days are often replaced with remote classwork days.
But it's deeper than that - New York City is grappling with low attendance and spikes in anxiety and depression.
"For some of our younger kids, remote learning was a disaster but for some of our older kids it worked pretty well," said First Deputy Chancellor of NYC Schools Daniel Weisberg.
Judy Ramirez's 9-year-old daughter is being held back a grade in Upper Manhattan.
"My daughter is in second grade and she has a lot of problems to learning math," Ramirez said.
After being forced to stay apart for so long, at Elmhurst Hospital - once the epicenter for the pandemic - with thousands of patients and hundreds of deaths, now it screens for mental health.
"Depression is no longer that stigma of like you're crazy or just don't worry about it, like it's in your head, I think a lot more people are like, oh, you know, you can go to Elmhurst," said Elmhurst Hospital CEO Dr. Helen Arteaga-Landaverde.
After five years, one of the most indelible aspects of the pandemic remains the power of unity.
"We're resilient as New Yorkers, we're resilient as people, and no matter what obstacle is put in front of us, there is no obstacle we can't overcome," Harris said.
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