Commemorations mark five years since lockdown

On the 5th anniversary of the UK's first lockdown due to COVID-19, locals gathered at Sunderland Minster on the 8th of March to remember their loved ones, families, friends, and partners.  There, they were encouraged to share their grief with each other and take some time for themselves, using yellow roses to "honour the people not the pandemic".

As COVID restrictions banned group prayers, wakes and restricted access to funerals, many bereaved families did not get to say a proper goodbye to their loved ones. This time of commemoration allowed them this, even if it comes some years later.

According to the UK government, COVID-19 was the 'most serious pandemic in terms of mortality and impact on society since the H1N1 influenza pandemic of 1918 to 1919.' In the UK, over 200 000 people died because of the virus, leaving thousands of bereaved families. 

When the virus was first detected in China late 2019, before spreading around the world in early 2020, most countries shut their borders, entering a lockdown to protect the most vulnerable as society came to a standstill.