Despite a year dominated by COVID-19, there have been several reasons to celebrate. As proof, here are 10 positive news that (also) marked the news in 2020.
• Read also: 10 expressions and terms that emerged in 2020
• Read also: Here are 12 extraordinary things that will stay put after this year
1. Laurent Duvernay-Tardif wins the Super Bowl.
The year 2020 could not have started better with the victory, on February 2, of the Chiefs, the team of Quebecer Laurent Duvernay-Tardif, at the Super Bowl, and this, despite a calf injury for the Quebec player.
–
–
Throughout the year, the champion has not ceased to impress us, even in times of pandemic, when he volunteered to help out in CHSLDs in the spring and fall.
Photo Sports Illustrated Charles Laberge
–
–
–
The year also ended well for Laurent Duvernay-Tardif when he shared with the young soccer prodigy Alphonso Davies, in December, the Lou-Marsh trophy, awarded to the athlete of the year in Canada.
–
–
2. The largest jackpot in Quebec history, $ 70 million, won by a grocery packer.
Photo d’archives Simon Clark
–
–
–
On February 26, Gregory Mathieu, a 22-year-old young man who worked as a packer in a grocery store on the South Shore of Quebec, had the surprise of his life when he discovered that he had become a multimillionaire. He had just won a jackpot of $ 70 million, the largest in Quebec history.
3. “It’s going to be fine”.
PHOTO COURTESY FERNANDE GARZON HERRERA
–
–
–
At the beginning of April, Quebecers confined for a few weeks already launched a movement of solidarity by displaying rainbows at their windows. The newspaper published daily photos paying tribute to the # çavabienaller movement.
4. Twitter founder donates $ 1 billion to help fight COVID-19.
–
–
In April, we also learned that the multi-billionaire Jack Dorsey, founder of Twitter, shared nearly a third of his fortune to fight against the coronavirus.
“Life is too short, so let’s do all we can to help people now,” he said at the time of his announcement.
Others have followed his initiative, including Jeff Bezos, the boss of Amazon and the richest man in the world, who has donated $ 100 million to US food banks.
–
–
As for Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of Facebook, and his wife, Priscilla Chan, they have offered $ 25 million to research treatments for the coronavirus.
–
–
5. The Canadian qualifies for the playoffs.
Against all odds, the Canadiens managed to carve out a place in the playoffs due to the new rules related to the pandemic.
Photo d’archives Ben Pelosse
–
–
–
Thanks to the brilliance of Carey Price, Claude Julien’s men began their journey brilliantly by eliminating the Sidney Crosby Penguins in four games before being eliminated against the Philadelphia Flyers in six games on August 21.
–
–
6. SpaceX’s historic takeoff.
–
–
On Saturday, May 30, 2020, SpaceX became the first private company to launch astronauts into space, offering the United States a new form of space transportation after a nine-year hiatus.
–
7. The fate of the elderly in CHSLDs is finally taken seriously (at least, we hope so).
The first wave of COVID-19 outbreaks had disastrous consequences for our seniors living in CHSLDs and retirement homes.
QMI Agency archive photo, Joël Lemay
–
–
–
In response to the sad death toll, the government is calling for the intervention of the Canadian military and the Red Cross.
Photo d’archives Ben Pelosse
–
–
–
Thousands of attendants are trained. Despite the abandonment of several during training, the new cohort of attendants makes it possible to relieve the work of exhausted staff.
QMI Agency archive photo, Joël Lemay
–
–
–
The Ombudsperson’s report confirms that CHSLDs left seniors to die alone and without comfort care during the first wave of COVID-19.
The good news in all of this? The second wave will have spared most of the establishments, and the government now seems determined to go into “action” mode to ensure protection and better services for the elderly in Quebec.
Photo d’archives Stevens Leblanc
–
–
–
8. After having fallen drastically, the stock markets rise again to reach new historic highs!
–
–
At the start of the pandemic, the stock markets were in free fall. Fortunately, in the fall they experienced spectacular increases linked to the American elections, but also to the hope that vaccines against COVID-19 would quickly manage to contain the virus.
–
–
“While the year 2020 was shaping up to be catastrophic because of the economic consequences of the coronavirus pandemic, now the financial markets have thumbed their noses at COVID-19”, wrote columnist Michel Girard on the 5th December 2020.
9. Kamala Harris breaks the glass ceiling by becoming the first female vice president of the United States.
–
–
November was marked by a chaotic and surprising US election, in which Democrat Joe Biden and his running mate, Kamala Harris, won the race.
With Kamala Harris, first female vice-president, and a record elected congresswoman, including an unprecedented number of Republicans, the 2020 US election marks a historic milestone in the advancement of women in Washington.
Other candidates also managed to leave their brand in a positive way.
Here are 5 in pictures:
10. The COVID-19 vaccine arrives in Quebec.
In December, nine months after the start of the pandemic, Pfizer’s vaccine arrived in Quebec. On the first day, more than 700 people received a first dose of the vaccine.
–
–
The historic vaccination campaign will continue in the coming months in Quebec, while large volumes of vaccines should arrive this spring.
–
