More on a year since the UK’s first lockdown, via AFP:
On Tuesday, Johnson said the year that followed had “taken a huge toll on us all” and called the anniversary “an opportunity to reflect on the past year – one of the most difficult in our country’s history”.
“We should also remember the great spirit shown by our nation over this past year,” he added.
Britain recorded its first coronavirus death on March 5, 2020, but was criticised for its light-touch approach to containing the spread compared to more stringent measures elsewhere.
The prime minister had promised to “turn the tide” of the outbreak within 12 weeks of the initial lockdown.
But a year later, Britain is now in its third national lockdown, having recently been hit by its latest and deadliest wave.
Schools have been closed, as have pubs, bars, nightclubs, theatres, cafes, and leisure centres, and mass gatherings have been banned.
However, restrictions are being loosened as the country’s mass vaccination rollout drives down hospitalisations and deaths, with the government eyeing a return to normality by June 21.
The prime minister himself required treatment in intensive care after catching the virus shortly after announcing the first lockdown.
Johnson was in an ICU for three days and given oxygen, requiring Foreign Minister Dominic Raab to take over for three weeks during the darkest days of the first wave.
Prince Charles, heir to the British throne, also caught the disease early in the pandemic, but said he “got away with it quite lightly”, recovering over seven days at his Birkhall home on the royal Balmoral estate.
