MERCURY COMMENT

LEICESTER has now been in local lockdown for 100 days.

The city earned the ignominious title of the first in the UK to be placed in local lockdown on June 30 at a time when restrictions were being loosened elsewhere.

Birmingham, Manchester, Liverpool, Glasgow, and parts of the North West, the North East, Yorkshire and Wales have since followed suit – and closer to home, so has Oadby and Wigston.

Yet unlike everywhere else, Leicester has simply had no respite from the restrictions.

Families have been split, businesses and livelihoods left in ruins, the way we interact with others in public places has probably changed forever and the impact of isolation looks set to leave a lasting stain on our lives that may never be truly removed.

So today, in a series of special reports, the Mercury takes a look back at 100 days in lockdown, the impact it has had on the city and county and what might happen in the future.

We have done our utmost to live up to our responsibilities as key workers and ensure we’ve kept you informed of all the developments since the pandemic began.

We’ve chased the powers that be for answers to your questions - and we solemnly promise that we’ll continue to do just that – and shout up for the good of Leicester and Leicestershire whatever the future might hold.

And we sincerely hope that you, our readers, will help us in that endeavour by continuing to speak to us about how the pandemic is affecting their lives.

So today we’re renewing our appeal for the people of Leicester and Leicestershire to share their pandemic stories with us.

E-mail us at:

Message the Mercury and LeicestershireLive via Facebook or Twitter, or tweet using the hashtag #100DaysofLockdown to join the debate. We exist to tell your stories and we need you join in the conversation in the hope we’ll all come out of this crisis better and stronger than before.