South Yorkshire to mark anniversary of first lockdown
More than 3,000 people have lost their lives to the virus in our county
South Yorkshire will fall silent later to remember those lost to Covid, a year since we were first put into lockdown.
12 months ago today the country was told to stay at home to slow the spread of coronavirus.
Since then, along with two more lockdowns, there have been more than 3,000 deaths from the virus in South Yorkshire.
Sheffield's Director of Public Health Greg Fell says it's been an awful year for many:
"It's been hard for those working in it, it's been hard for those living through the consequences, and many people have lost loved ones. It's been really really hard for them.
"Many people have lost loved ones when they've not been able to visit them in hospital or the care home. I can't really imagine how hard that is. It must just be soul-destroyingly hard.
"We knew it was coming. It was largely unstoppable - it was clear the efforts that we had put in around contact tracing, particularly imported cases from borders, was helpful but not enough . When the lockdown was announced, my memory is relief."
But as well as the devastating human cost, Covid has brought people together over the past year.
Thousands have volunteered to help others struggling in their communities.
Reem Ahmed only came to the UK from Yemen four years ago but has given her time up to support others in Darnall throughout the pandemic.
She's helped distribute public health advice, delivered food parcels, and helped with children's half term activities.
She says it was important for her to do her bit:
"Of course I needed to help my community at this time. We are living in the same community and if we don't help each other the community won't survive.
"During this crisis the people have really suffered - the depression has been so much - so I needed to help them. From my heart I needed to help them.
"When you deliver the things for others, you just put them in the door for them, they're very happy and some people cried a lot because they couldn't get anybody to help them."
At noon today the Prime Minister will join the rest of the country in observing a minute's silence to remember everyone who's died from Covid.
Ben Anderson's Director of Public Health for Rotherham - he says however damaging Covid restrictions have been, they've really worked:
"We have seen amazing changes in behaviour. Just look at how people are travelling, how people are working. There's a huge amount of detriment in that in terms of people's mental health and relationships, but a huge amount of positives in how we've held the case rate down as much as we have.
"Until we got the evidence of an effeective vaccine I thought it could be going on for very long because we're still at probably less than 20% of the population of Rotherham has been affected by Covid so far. So without a vaccine we would still have 80% of the population at risk. The vaccine is the real game changer this year."