Proud of way we’ve responded over year
LAST week, we marked the one-year anniversary of our first national lockdown being announced, in response to the coronavirus crisis. We’ve seen great cities and landmarks all over the globe spookily deserted.
We’ve been on a rollercoaster of restrictions easing and tightening.
It’s been an extraordinary and difficult year for everyone; something I’ve heard from my constituents and business owners from across Harborough, Oadby and Wigston.
But at last we are finally coming to the end of this ordeal.
Britain has now administered doses to more than 30 million people – far more than anywhere else in Europe.
I pay tribute to all of those locally who have been involved in this success story.
It has been heartening to see people queueing up across the city and county to get their jabs, and I know many people in GP practices and hospitals have been working sevenday weeks to make this happen.
I’d also like to thank the army of volunteers we have across different vaccination sites in the city and county.
They’re quite often mentioned in emails I receive from grateful constituents, for the warm and friendly welcome they give to so many people.
In recent days we have seen Italy announce a new national lockdown and France lock down Paris and the surrounding area.
The good news is that, thanks to mass vaccination, infection rates in Britain seem to be staying down even as we reopen.
Families are able to meet up again outside, and in a couple of weeks, shops will reopen.
By summer, life should be getting back to normal at last.
One of the few bright spots over the past year has been the surge in people caring for people in their community.
Huge numbers of people have fetched groceries and medicine for neighbours, looked out for older and vulnerable people, and formed neighbourhood groups to help each other out.
The challenge will be to keep this voluntary effort going – as, sadly, there are many people who are lonely even when life is “normal.”
So many people have really gone out of their way to help one another.
We should all be proud of the way neighbourhoods and villages here have responded to the crisis, and if we can keep that extra level of care for neighbours going, that will be one positive legacy from the crisis.