TODAY marks exactly two years to the date that the UK entered the first coronavirus lockdown.
In a televised address on the evening of Monday March 23, Prime Minister Boris Johnson urged people to stay at home to curb the spread of the virus and protect the NHS.
He ordered schools to close, along with non-essential shops, bars and restaurants.
People were only permitted to leave their homes to go to work if they could not work from home, to shop for essential supplies or to carry out exercise.
The announcement on that pivotal day marked the beginning of months of uncertainty and fear and affected every person across the country in some way.
It also saw the Redditch community come together, although apart, to look out for each other.
From organising food collections and dropping off supplies to vulnerable people, to supporting key workers who kept the country running, the first lockdown also saw huge community spirit.
To mark the second anniversary of the first lockdown, we have looked back at what stories were reported by the Redditch Advertiser on March 23 2020.
The first death caused by coronavirus was confirmed by the Worcestershire Acute Hospitals NHS Trust on March 23.
The patient died at the Alexandra Hospital and it was the first death within a hospital confirmed in Worcestershire.
This week, figures from the Office for National Statistics show that in Redditch 237 deaths involving Covid-19 had been provisionally registered up to March 12 over the course of the pandemic so far.
The deadliest week of the pandemic so far came in the seven days to January 22 2021, when 18 people lost their lives in Redditch.
Oakland International, based in Beoley, appealed for anyone who had been laid off or had their hours reduced to get in touch.
The Advertiser reported how the food distribution firm was looking to recruit as it was getting busier due to the pandemic.
It came as many people were made redundant, placed on furlough or had their work reduced due to the economic turmoil caused by the pandemic.
Two years on, the firm has played a vital role in local efforts to transport donations to war torn Ukraine.
Meanwhile in national news, McDonald’s announced it was closing all of its restaurants across the UK and Ireland by 7pm that day.
It came as many hospitality businesses made the decision to close for the safety of staff and customers, ahead of the Prime Minister ordering them to close in his address to the nation that night.
Hospitality busineseses across Redditch were ordered to close and were not allowed to reopen until the summer, with social distancing rules still in place.
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