Lockdown to be marked one year on

IT’S now 12 months since the UK’s almost 70 million residents were ordered into the most severe restrictions on liberty ever seen in the country.

Britons watched in shock as Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced on March 23, 2020, they must stay at home under lockdown as a deadly virus swept the world.

The day will be marked in various ways across the UK today.

Dundee’s Caird Hall will be lit yellow as part of a Day of Reflection to show support for those who have lost loved ones.

The UK death toll today sits at 126,172. But on the anniversary, could we have imagined Covid-19 would have such a huge toll on our lives for such a long period?

Families and friends have been cruelly separated and many have lost loved ones alone in hospitals under restrictions seen as a necessary evil.

Frontline workers have bravely kept the country from falling apart while business have shut – some permanently.

The population at large has battled to stay sane while awaiting immunisation to wrest back control.

This has seen mental illness increase as well as loneliness, particularly among vulnerable people shielding and unable to leave home at all for months.

One of the biggest impacts of the virus has been on the economy and people’s livelihoods, health and wellbeing.

Numerous local businesses from across a wide range of industries have shut during the pandemic.

The Dundee Food Insecurity Network was set up in March 2020 by groups which foresaw the situation.

Efforts on the ground are being co-ordinated by Dundee Volunteer and Voluntary Action and Faith in Community Dundee. Jacky Close, from Faith in Community Dundee, says the huge need for emergency food is “just so wrong”.

Others are still living with symptoms months on from falling ill, a phenomenon known as long Covid.

Ninewells Hospital doctor Tom Fardon fell ill with the virus just weeks after Boris Johnson’s announcement.

Almost a year on and though much better, he continues to suffer some effects.

The 44-year-old, who is a consultant in the respiratory department, says his experience is mirrored by thousands.

He said: “Since September-October, I’ve suffered from daily headaches which don’t really respond to any treatment, as well as tinnitus.

“Both are thought to be a result of Covid-19.

“But, in my experience, things are better now than they were six months ago.”

Dr Fardon added he is immensely proud of the country’s resolve over the past year and is urging everyone to maintain one last push before vaccines free the population.

“My overriding feeling at the moment is gratitude,” he said.