
By Emily Barone and Lon Tweeten
It was a year ago that COVID-19 pandemic seized control of our lives. While essential workers remained on the job, the rest of America, confined to quarters, tried to come to terms with a life on pause. Working, learning and passing the time almost entirely from home meant changes in habits, health, relationships and plans for the future. Numbers don’t tell the whole story, of course, but the following statistics outline the contours of the lives we lived.





—With reporting by Patrick Lucas Austin, Judy Berman, Melissa Chan, Jamie Ducharme, Alejandro de la Garza, Tara Law, Belinda Luscombe and Katie Reilly
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Write to Lon Tweeten at lon.tweeten@time.com