Wiltshire residents urged to remember the positives on two year lockdown anniversary
It's a chance for us to reflect on the pandemic
People in Wiltshire are being urged to think of the silver linings and positives, two years on from the first nationwide lockdown.
It's the second National Day of Reflection, 24 months on from when Prime Minister Boris Johnson made a TV address to tell the country we would be going into lockdown.
In that time, there have been 1,013 deaths with Covid-19 on the certificate in our county.
But, there have been many positives too.
From people picking up shopping or prescriptions for vulnerable neighbours to others collecting and donating PPE for those on the front line.
Wiltshire's Public Health Director Kate Blackburn says she's proud of how our communities responded:
"Communities came together so quickly, so fast, they knew exactly how to provide the best support, the best comfort for people living in their streets, living in their community areas. I think we were really lucky that people were asking questions of the local authority where we could really try and help and support that but not take charge of that because it was our communities doing what they absolutely do best.
"I think we all need to find some positives and silver linings to what's happened in the last two years and I think that would be a really, really big one. Everybody across Wiltshire should be rightly very proud of who they are and where they live."
LATEST COVID STATS
Two years on, we are still experiencing high levels of covid cases in our community.
In the seven days to 17th March, there have been 6,147 positive cases in Wiltshire.
That's an increase of 2,357 on the previous week.
This means the county's rolling rate per 100,000 population is at 1,219.5.
The national average is 803.9.