Bereaved families and communities met on Sunday for reflection and recorded five years since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Towns and cities in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland held hundreds of events, reminiscing about those who died and paying tribute to frontline health and social care workers, volunteers and researchers on the annual Covid Day Reflection Day.
Just under 227,000 people have died in the UK, with Covid-19 listed as one of the causes of death certificates.
In London, relatives of the family led by Highland Piper joined the hopeful to walk by the National Community's memorial wall.
They handed them 3,000 photos of the faces of some of the deceased people. Organizers say it's more than 1% of the UK's total deaths.
The event ended with a song from the choir and a river salute from the London Fire Brigade.
A minute of silence took place after a big ben and a long-stalked red carnation chime was thrown into the Thames.
Prime Minister Kiel Starmer said: “As we reach five years since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, I know there are deep sadness and losses for many that may never be relieved.
“Today we will come together to remember, reflect and honor the sacrifices made by the people of our nation.”
The annual Covid Day Reflection Day is one of the recommendations set out by the UK Covid Memorial Commission, counting Felicia Kwak, a nurse at King's College Hospital, as commissioner.
Kwaku said:
“Some patients knew they would pass, but some didn't. I remember that many of us didn't cry for at least two or three years.”
The first coronavirus incident was recorded in the UK on January 31, 2020.
Boris Johnson, then Prime Minister, announced the UK-wide coronavirus lockdown on March 23, 2020, with a series of restrictions on the lives of people aimed at stopping the spread of the virus.
Writer, poet, broadcaster, and former Children's Award winner Michael Rosen said attending an event at Burton-on-Trent in Staffordshire was an “honor” and read a new poem there.
“The shadow passed us, and hundreds of thousands of people felt the sudden, unexpected loss of their loved ones,” said Rosen, who was taken to the hospital with Covid and led in intensive care for 48 days.
He added:
Soprano Leslie Garrett was one of the performers at the event, and the difficult days during the pandemic were recalled by testimony from figures from NHS staff, patients, volunteers and advanced medical care.
Michael Rosen's poem:
“Cough and cough, gasping of air.
“There are no cars anywhere, empty streets.
“A lack of flavor. A lack of flavor. A lack of flavor.
“An empty day, time to waste.
“There's a shortage of tests and masks.
“What is this zoom? Someone asks.
“How many feet are we?
“Chest pain, heart pain.
“The kids in the room all day?
“Will we ever run away?
“Unprotected drivers on the bus.
“Nurse checks and tests.
“Nurse wearing a clinical waste bag.
“People leaving without name tags.
“It's cold and frozen, and helplessly hot.
“Blood thinner and blood clots.
“A face that I will never see again.
“A heart chases sadness and pain.
“The risks you were dealing with.
“I never felt tired or nervous.
“The ward is too hot for the weather in June.
“The Medic from the team I work with.
“Drippings and endless beeps of the machine.
“News that they invented the vaccine.
“What we encountered, the road we crossed.
“Those who went, those we lost.
“The lives of people who fell and wobbled.
“Their lives have changed forever.”
