12 MONTHS WE CAN’T FORGET
A YEAR SINCE LOCKDOWN, FAMILIES REMEMBER VICTIMS OF COVID
TODAY marks a year since the first coronavirus lockdown came into force in the UK.
In those 12 months more than 2,000 people have died with Covid-19 in Derbyshire, and the disease continues to claim lives.
In today’s paper, some of those who have lost loved ones tell of their grief and remember their lives.
ON Monday, March 23, 2020, the world as we knew it changed for good.
The UK was plunged into full lockdown to prevent the onward march of a new, deadly and invisible threat which was already claiming the lives of our nearest and dearest.
Covid-19, a coronavirus, has now taken the lives of 2,496 people in Derbyshire with 67,732 county and city residents having tested positive for the virus. These deaths represent thousands of voids in our lives which will not and cannot be filled.
When the nation was first plunged into lockdown, Derbyshire and Derby had recorded 12 Covid-19 deaths and 250 cases of the virus – though testing at that time was limited to hospital patients and health staff.
Derbyshire had seen one of the first few known cases of the new virus reported on February 27, linked to Burbage Primary School, in Buxton, with news of Derby’s first case nearly two weeks later on March 11.
The lead-up to our first lockdown, and the start of that first wholesale restriction on our lives, saw Derbyshire in the national limelight.
Scores of people travelled to Matlock Bath and other tourist hotspots in Derbyshire despite warnings of the virus and to maintain distance with no face covering advice yet in force.
These actions were condemned by many, but resulted in a need for more urgent measures to take choice away and for people to take the situation more seriously.
As lockdown came into force, Derbyshire Police used drone technology to monitor those walking in the Peak District, far from home.
Social media video over these non-essential trips featured in the then daily Downing Street press conferences. Our lives were punctuated by these briefings and the tales shared within them.
Our regular routines were left by the wayside and the reality sunk in that the last time we had seen our friends, family, loved ones and colleagues were in fact the final times for an entirely unknown period.
Covid-19 is now part of our regular vocabulary, along with “stay at home”, “social distancing”, “hands, face, space” and “you’re on mute”.
One year on since that first lockdown was announced by Boris Johnson, a date which will stretch on throughout history, we look back on 12 months which we will all remember - the good, the bad, the heartwrenching and the hopeful.
LOCKDOWN
OVER the past year we were advised of a need to “flatten the curve” and that we must “stay home, save lives, protect the NHS”.
As soon as lockdown was called we saw people panic, stockpiling supplies, particularly pasta, toilet paper.
Queues stretched around supermarkets and fuel prices plummeted, our high streets and town and city centres were deserted.
Our social lives, businesses and future plans have all been paused for the best part of the last year, with many of us completely unaware or unprepared for what the next year would bring.
Holidays and weddings were cancelled, only a couple of mourners could attend funerals, with comfort and hugs not allowed. Children missed out on hundreds of hours of in-school education and valuable time with their friends.
Patients were cared for in hospitals and care homes alone and unable to see loved ones. Many of which died alone with families saying farewell over video-chats arranged by heartbroken staff.
And countless businesses have closed their doors for good - leaving many without jobs.
There has been a significant spike in mental health illnesses with Covid-19 anxiety and isolation proving an immense burden on already pressured lives and thousands have been left waiting many months for treatment and surgery.
Charities and social services have borne witness to an increase in families needing food parcels, adults and children being trapped in homes with their abusers and unable to escape.
And many have been out to work, every day out of necessity and to continue essential public services.
Our health and care staff have moved out of their homes and distanced themselves from their own families in order to help others. They have suffered immense loss, heartbreak, pressure and stress which will not be shaken.
As the weeks wore on we clapped, honked our horns and banged pots and pans for our NHS, our carers, and all of our key workers. This, too, punctuated our lives and provided respite from the monotony and anxiety of enforced isolation and to show our respect.
Communities scrambled to create support networks for their neighbours.
Rainbows filled windows as a sign of solidarity.
RESPITE... BUT NOT FOR LONG
Since that first lockdown we emerged briefly for a summer before months of complex tiered restrictions between counties and cities.
We now have mandatory rules in place for face coverings in supermarkets and on public transport, which has caused division among the minority.
The summer’s Eat Out to Help Out discount scheme saw our cafes, restaurants and pubs thrive again, with thousands able to return to work from furlough and households leaving their homes for one of few times in months - but this was to come at a cost.
We were plunged into a second national lockdown in November in a bid to save Christmas and squash a second peak which had seen infection levels and hospital inpatient numbers pushed to the extreme.
After this we had a December fraught with concern about whether we could see our families or whether Christmas, just as with other numerous holidays and celebrations during 2020, would be carried out in isolation with no congregation.
A new form of the virus emerged and alongside winter conditions and fatigue after a year of self-sacrifice, we entered a third peak of Covid which would outshoot all we had seen before.
Our hospitals were stretched to beyond breaking point, hundreds were called back from retirement and rallied from other services to help pitch-in and maintain support, and not without a cost.
Hope was on the horizon though. And that hope came with the roll-out of the world’s first approved Covid-19 vaccine, developed by Pfizer and BioNTech.
VACCINES
Royal Derby Hospital and Chesterfield Royal Hospital started the colossal vaccination programme on December 8.
They were among the first sites in the world to do so, due to their expertise and technology able to keep the vaccines super-cold and stable.
The combined work of an army of health and care staff, pharmacists, community nurses, volunteers and retired workers began the roll-out of Covid-19 vaccines to hundreds of thousands of people in the county and city.
This has now more than 400,000 Derbyshire residents vaccinated against the virus - approaching half of the county’s adult population.
Community centres, leisure halls, churches and even Derby Arena have been commandeered to serve new purposes as vaccination sites. Staff and volunteers also pushed through the roll-out house-to-house to those most vulnerable.
PUBLIC HEALTH
A lesser-known or infrequently highlighted role of our local councils is the duty of public health. Its budget has been cut for years and many would assume it is handled nationally.
Through the past year our local public health teams – led by Derbyshire County Council and Derby City Council – have been at the forefront of tracking the pandemic within the county and city.
Through the past 12 months they have taken on new roles to roll out and operate local Covid testing sites and mobile units.
Every area of Derbyshire now has a community testing site for those without symptoms for the virus. There are also sites for key workers and those with symptoms.
Our councils have hired expert staff and trained up colleagues to carry out contact tracing in a bid to quash outbreaks and provide vital
data on who the virus is affecting the most.
They have also been providing key links to support services for those struggling with self-isolation, both mentally and financially.
Our public health directors, Dr Robyn Dewis in Derby city and Dean Wallace in Derbyshire county became key faces of the fight against Covid in the county.
They provided us with regular insights into what was happening with the pandemic on a local level, what residents should do to help protect themselves, loved ones and their community, also explaining why they should do so and giving key explainers and debunking myths about the virus, face masks, hand hygiene, vaccination and social distancing.
Mr Wallace and his team intervened to prevent a music festival from going ahead near Ironville and Riddings in Amber Valley, with the local council hamstrung by legislation void of pandemic-preventing objection allowances.
Both Mr Wallace and Dr Dewis voiced concerns about the lack of information being passed to their teams to, in no uncertain terms, enable them to do their jobs and avoid, as it was phrased, trying to shoot in the dark.
Slowly but surely these test and trace processes were passed over to local teams at our councils, after proving their significant worth despite pitiful comparative budgets.
Schools were closed on and off, class by class and year group by year group following outbreaks and cases of Covid-19.
Dr Dewis told the LDRS: “It has been a really strong demonstration about how public health has a really huge impact on all of society.
“It has also been really positive to see everybody pulling together, a common aim to reduce the spread of the virus.”
POLICING
New powers to enforce measures aimed at controlling the spread of the virus have seen our police force stretched and under-pressure.
The oversight and coverage of these measures came into question with often unclear lines on what is and is not a breach of lockdown. Neighbourhoods reported thousands of breaches.
The force has since handed out more than 1,600 fines to Covid rulebreakers, with five £10,000 penalties for breaches including illegal raves and house parties.
The force acknowledges it has not always got it right.
In January, the force reviewed all of its fixed penalty notices issued for Covid breaches after a complaint from two women fined £200 each for meeting up at Foremark Reservoir, just five miles from their respective homes. These particular fines were overturned.
Usage of drone footage filmed in the Peak District to discourage lockdown breaches saw the force hit headlines and branded “overzealous” and “disgraceful”.
Police were the pinch point between communities fearing for their safety, breaking up disputes, dispersing Covid-breachng gatherings and very much aware and concerned about the crimes which would largely go unseen due to lockdown - including child and domestic abuse.
Communities have also applauded the police for their endeavours despite the risk to themselves and their families through close interactions with residents and potential criminals who may also have Covid-19.
The force has reported 338 cases of Covid-19 within its own staff and in March one in five police officers and staff (20 per cent) was off work either through illness, shielding guidance and due to being in contact with someone with the virus.