Nation unites in a day of reflection to mark fifth anniversary of Covid-19
Hundreds of events were hosted where the pain, grief, compassion and sacrifice of those difficult times was remembered.
Emotional scenes were played out across the nation as the bereaved and communities came together in a day of reflection to mark the five years since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic.
On Sunday, towns and cities across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland hosted hundreds of events where the pain, grief, compassion and sacrifice of those difficult times was remembered.
Those who died were remembered and the chance was also taken to pay tribute to the frontline health and social care workers, volunteers and researchers who played crucial roles.
“Today, we come together to remember, reflect and pay tribute to the sacrifices made by people across our country.”
The annual day is one of the recommendations set out by the UK Commission on Covid Commemoration, which counts King’s College Hospital nurse Felicia Kwaku as a commissioner.
She recalled Covid’s cruel cost as she recounted the anxiety of frontline workers, saying: “I remember comforting and consoling many, many loved ones and patients.
“It was very, very difficult (then) and it’s difficult being here now.”
She added that “you didn’t know whether you were going to get catch Covid, but I remember the teamwork bringing us all together.”
In London, sobbing could be heard as bereaved relatives, led by a Highland piper, joined well wishers to walk beside the National Covid Memorial Wall.
The event was brought to an end with a song from a choir and a salute on the river from the London Fire Brigade fireboat.
A minute’s silence was held after the chimes of Big Ben and long-stemmed red carnations were cast into the River Thames.
Lynn Jones fought back tears as she remembered her “fit and healthy” 66-year-old husband Gareth, “a loved principal” in their hometown of Stoke on Trent, who died after “spending seven weeks in hospital battling the virus on his own”.
Applause broke out, as she said: “For me, this wall is an expression of so many emotions – rage, love, grief, pain and unbearable sadness.
“It is also important as an expression of democracy, because this is what the people affected most by the pandemic feel.
“It is a message to those across the water that this is what happens when you get it wrong. It should stay as a constant reminder of the impact of government decisions.”
Their retired hotelier mother died in September 2021.
Ms Woodall said: “So many people here are traumatised by what has happened. Today has been absolutely poignant.
“It is important for us to be here to represent all of those faces on the wall and to be among like-minded people, some of whom are very angry and upset.”
Mr Rosen, who was rushed to hospital with Covid and put into an induced coma in intensive care for 48 days, said: “A shadow passed over us and hundreds of thousands of people felt the sudden and unexpected loss of loved ones.
He added: “Thanks to the expertise and care I received, I came through, but I look back over my shoulder and think of those who didn’t.
“They were people who were with me in hospital or who didn’t even get to hospital – companions of a sort. We owe it to them and their families to remember them.”
A choir sang and a poem was read to take people into a minute’s silence at the reflection event in Glasgow Green.
Doves were released and the event also included a wreath being laid, a plaque unveiling and individual yellow roses being left in memory of loved ones.
Earlier, Scotland’s First Minister John Swinney, who took part in the Glasgow ceremony, sent his “deepest condolences” to people who lost loved ones during the pandemic.
Across the UK, just under 227,000 people died who had the virus listed as a cause of death – with more than 16,000 in Scotland.
“Tragically, thousands of people lost their lives, and I offer my deepest condolences to those who lost loved ones in such difficult circumstances.”
Mabon ap Gwynfor, a Plaid Cymru politician and Member of the Senedd, said there had been a “poignant” commemoration at Hafod y Bwch and Erddig where “the stories shared were moving and important to remember”.
Many tributes were held locally but, he added, it was “disappointing” that the government in Wales had failed to organise an official event.
