On March 16, 2020, Linda Doody moved her husband of more than 50 years into the Presque Isle Rehab and Nursing Center. Rodney Doody’s family had sought enhanced care for him as the 76-year-old dealt with dementia, said his daughter, Jody Coiley of Fort Fairfield. His family would never be able to sit in the same room with him again.
Four days earlier, Maine had documented its first case of COVID-19 in a Navy Reservist in her 50s from Androscoggin County who likely contracted it while on duty in Italy. The day before Rodney Doody moved in, Gov. Janet Mills had declared a civil state of emergency that prohibited most visitors to nursing homes, where the virus was especially prone to spreading. The day he moved in, Mills called for the statewide cancellation of St. Patrick’s Day festivities. Two days after that, on March 18, she ordered restaurants and bars to close at 6 p.m., urged nonessential businesses to close and prohibited gatherings of 10 or more people.
In the year since, more than 700 Maine people have died from COVID-19, a death toll from a single cause not seen in Maine since the 1918 influenza pandemic. Relatives had to say goodbye over Zoom or FaceTime.
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