Sunday 9th March 2025 is Covid Day of Reflection.

Is it meant to be more fir people to reflect on those who died of Covid and those who were left with permanent ill health, rather than how daft we were?

Yes I appreciate that sentiment. However my own thoughts lie elsewhere I’m afraid.

But 5 years ago, as now, it was all so frighteningly new and unprecedented.

Yes, reading through that list, it all looks so completely over the top. But there was no vaccine, no cure, no one knew what was going to happen.

Plus how many on GN were disinfecting the groceries before putting them away? (Not me, I never did that).

We all now know so much was wrong, but the fact remains, 5 years ago, we just didn’t.

And we were all scared.

Easy to say now FGT but there was a time when 1000 people were dying daily.
Very scary times. And we weren’t alone in locking down, most countries did, and many didn’t ease restrictions until long after we did.
Families the length and breadth of the country lost loved ones, some front line workers. It is this loss I will remember tomorrow as well as long covid sufferers.
When a new virus emerges like this killing so many a lockdown is the only way to check the spread. Goodness knows how high the number of those who died would have been if we didn’t do this.
Like I says easy in retrospect with covid vaccinations and a much less vigorous strain.

It was a depressing time, where you were more or less confined to your home for weeks on end, you couldn't get a haircut, most of the shops and pubs were closed, you couldn't socialise. Going to the supermarket meant standing in queue outside for ages, then another queue to be called for the tills. Also the news was just full of grim announcements and more restrictions. I think when most of the restrictions were lifted in the summer of 2021, it was a blessed relief.

Correction - like I say

My aunt had a stroke and was admitted to hospital where she caught Covid 19 and died of it. She was the last of my mother's generation. Nobody was allowed to visit her and she didn't have a proper funeral.

This would have been around the same time that there were Karaoke and drinks parties going on at number 10.

Indigo8

My aunt had a stroke and was admitted to hospital where she caught Covid 19 and died of it. She was the last of my mother's generation. Nobody was allowed to visit her and she didn't have a proper funeral.

This would have been around the same time that there were Karaoke and drinks parties going on at number 10.

Sorry for your loss🌺
So many died without loved ones able to see them. Was horrible.

Funerals with no-one there except perhaps just a couple of family members.

A Covid Generation of school children, many of whom have been left with lasting problems.

Some children suffering even worse behind closed doors, from sadistic adults, with no-one to notice.

If there is another pandemic, it must be handled better.

I remember the fantastic spirit of community in my town - people helping each other out, dropping groceries off, checking on vulnerable people.
The food bank in the station car park because you couldn't be indoors.
The quiet. No traffic.
The doorstep clapping and boats in the harbour sounding their horns in the background.
I remember the absolute commitment of so many key workers, the sense of fear as the number of deaths went up and up each day and the sacrifices so many ordinary people made.

Then I think of the lot at number 10 making a cock up of so many decisions and abusing their position to party.

Indigo8

My aunt had a stroke and was admitted to hospital where she caught Covid 19 and died of it. She was the last of my mother's generation. Nobody was allowed to visit her and she didn't have a proper funeral.

This would have been around the same time that there were Karaoke and drinks parties going on at number 10.

I am sorry for your loss Indigo.

Yes, one rule for them, another for the rest of us.

Yes, so many people were wonderful, Churchview.
My Consultant driving miles out of her way to deliver the medication to her patients.
People looking out for one another.

Being controlled by a load of self-serving idiots.

Perhaps on reflection. However I started being ill the first day of lockdown. Prior to any tests to confirm. Fortunately didn't end up in hospital it was truly scary.And at the time DD was an ICU nurse seeing first hand young and previously healthy people dying.Plus a much respected colleague.So hindsight is a wonderful thing.Yes now I feel cross about the dodgy contracts and rule breakers in government. But would anyone else have acted any differently initially re precautions before we knew more what covid actually was and a vaccination was developed?.It was the second lockdown and how long it went on for that got to me. I was too ill the first few weeks.

I feel very like you FGT Looking back 5 years ago it was such an awful frightening time. My 19 year old granddaughter has been left with severe anxiety, her mum (DD1) has been left with long covid. Three of my family both daughters and son in law worked on the front line and saw so many die. I too could just cry at the way we were manipulated and afraid of hugging our nearest and dearest.

No one has mentioned Johnson - maybe we don’t need to.

On reflection it does seem ' daft ' !!
However it was a very very scary time, my family were fortunate - Covid did not take any of our loved ones. Sadly this was not the case for many families whose loved ones died alone and were alone at their funerals, absolutely devastating!!! I agree the drinks parties at no 10 were unforgivable! Having said that that this was a very new and frightening experience for them and us !! FGT I don't think we were manipulated, the safeguards were put in place to protect the public. There was a huge amount of goodwill , as for the speedy development of vaccine - I will be forever grateful! I recognize there has been problems with the vaccine but thank God we were able to have it.

So it was daft to try and stop people dying was it?
It was an unknown situation, nothing similar for the previous hundred years. Maybe some people think they would have known exactly what to do for the best, but nobody really did.
Apart from the party animals in Westminster, most people tried to protect each other and, in my eyes, that is never "daft".
We should reflect on those who lost family and friends and we should reflect on our discovery of who exactly is necessary to keep society functioning.

Of course some people like Michelle Mone saw financial opportunities in others bad health but most decent people didn't. I don't have great hopes of the enquiry, but at least we should try and recoup some of the money that was grabbed by opportunists.

I don’t think we were daft as you put it FriedGreenTomatoes2, because we were dealing with the unknown, and in those circumstances it is better to be over cautious. The next pandemic may be much worse, and we would be very grateful for what you see as being daft being enacted again.
So many people died, or had family members who died, and others are still living with long term effects, both physical and mental that I think a day of reflection is good for the country - it changed us all, whether we were directly affected or not.

I think some people are forgetting how many people got sick in those early weeks and many died. News from countries overseas ( Italy for instance) of high death rates even in younger people ( skiers in the alps) There was no known treatment at first- actually for quite a while. It took a while to work out who was most vulnerable. It was all very frightening. There was a lot of guessing. I worked in the nhs and we lost staff - mostly early on- before the risks ( eg to anaesthetists and cleaning staff) were better understood. Many of the people with severe long Covid were infected before vaccinations were invented. Yes some precautions- especially those affecting children- were over the top and others too late or mismanaged.
I will remember the friends colleagues and relative I lost and those who are still affected by long Covid or absent other health care.

Aside from the fraud allegations and partying at number 10 and all that other stuff we were told to do, there was genuine fear about the unknown until that day when they created the vaccines!
But the saddest thing is still those who got seriously ill and could not be visited and the grief of those left behind to mourn in isolation. It seems unbelievable now - but it was real.

When my family first heard about what was happening in Italy we started protecting ourselves and, when it was necessary we locked down to protect ourselves and protect others. And, if it happened again we would do the same. Do people really have such short memories of the vast numbers of people that were dying, so little knowledge of the virus and, at the time no vaccine? And then, when there was a vaccine, the realisation that the vaccine would reduce the symptoms but not prevent further infections.

MayBee70

When my family first heard about what was happening in Italy we started protecting ourselves and, when it was necessary we locked down to protect ourselves and protect others. And, if it happened again we would do the same. Do people really have such short memories of the vast numbers of people that were dying, so little knowledge of the virus and, at the time no vaccine? And then, when there was a vaccine, the realisation that the vaccine would reduce the symptoms but not prevent further infections.

Exactly Maybee.
And if another dangerous virus caused a pandemic am pretty sure we would have to do the same thing again.
How else could we have protected the vulnerable?

MayBee70

When my family first heard about what was happening in Italy we started protecting ourselves and, when it was necessary we locked down to protect ourselves and protect others. And, if it happened again we would do the same. Do people really have such short memories of the vast numbers of people that were dying, so little knowledge of the virus and, at the time no vaccine? And then, when there was a vaccine, the realisation that the vaccine would reduce the symptoms but not prevent further infections.

I heard about something strange happening in Wuhan late 2019 via people from there who were working in Australia. Everything was being kept secret and people in Wuhan were frightened.