Share your memories of lockdown as UK set to mark Covid day of reflection

Towns and cities crossed the UK are holding a time of reflection connected Sunday with 2025 marking 5 years since the commencement of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Health trusts and councils are among the groups organising events being held successful hospitals, parks and municipality halls.

There volition besides beryllium a procession on the Covid-19 memorial partition successful London, which runs beside the River Thames, that ends with a ceremonial extracurricular Lambeth Palace.

By precocious October 2023, determination had been astatine slightest 232,000 deaths successful the UK related to the coronavirus, according to the World Health Organisation.

The time of reflection was announced successful December by Culture Secretary Lisa Nandy, who said the events would beryllium organised locally truthful radical could people the juncture successful the mode they felt astir appropriate.

"The pandemic impacted america each successful antithetic ways, with galore sadly losing loved ones and others making large sacrifices successful their lives," she said. "This Covid-19 Day of Reflection volition let radical the abstraction and clip to bespeak and I would promote everyone to instrumentality portion successful a mode that feels close for them."

The memorial partition was created successful 2021 when a man, whose begetter died aft contracting Covid-19, painted a reddish heart connected the South Bank.

There are present much than 200,000 hearts painted connected the wall, covering a agelong of a 3rd of a mile (500m). Many person names and dates written inside.

The memorial is maintained by a radical of volunteers who trust connected nationalist donations. They privation it to beryllium recognised arsenic a imperishable installation by the authorities truthful it tin beryllium legally protected.

Sunday's procession volition beryllium followed by a ceremonial and a minute's silence, arsenic good arsenic flowers being thrown from Lambeth Bridge.

One of the radical participating successful the procession is Dr Phil Banfield, president of the British Medical Association assembly (BMA).

He said: "The accent of the time volition rightly beryllium 1 of solemnity and heartfelt reflection, arsenic each of america remembers conscionable however the effects of the pandemic everlastingly changed america personally, professionally and arsenic a society."

Other events see a peculiar supplication work astatine Manchester Cathedral, an outdoor lawsuit astatine Glasgow Green including a piper, choir and minute's silence, and a remembrance performance with music, poems and readings successful Belfast.

The time of reflection was 1 of the recommendations made by the UK committee connected Covid commemoration, which was tasked by the authorities to find the champion ways of marking this period.

Baroness Morgan of Cotes, who heads the commission, said erstwhile the time of reflection was archetypal announced: "As each twelvemonth passes since the tallness of the pandemic it tin consciousness arsenic if Covid is much and much of a distant memory.

"And yet I cognize from the conversations the UK Covid commemoration commissioners had, that those who mislaid loved ones admit a time erstwhile galore others volition besides retrieve those who mislaid their lives with them."

A nationalist enquiry into the government's effect to the pandemic is nether mode with hearings taking spot present connected the procurement of idiosyncratic protective equipment for the NHS.