The City of Ottawa will be marking five years since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic with a flag-lowering in March.

The World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a global pandemic on March 11, 2020, triggering a wave of public health measures and restrictions on populations in an attempt to stop the spread of the deadly virus.

More than 1,200 residents of Ottawa have died from COVID-19 according to public health statistics.

Bay Ward Coun. Theresa Kavanagh moved a motion at City Council Wednesday calling on the City of Ottawa to join the federal government in designating March 11 as a day of observance to commemorate the people who died, and the disruptions felt as a result of the pandemic.

The city will be lowering a flag to half-mast outside the Heritage Building at Ottawa City Hall that day.