Remembering the first Covid lockdown in Wiltshire two years on

This time two years ago in Wiltshire, the realities of the situation had suddenly dawned on people across the county, as they shut their doors after being told to ‘stay at home' for three weeks.

'Stay at home, Protect the NHS, Save lives' was the message the government reiterated to the British public.

Little did they know that the effects of the pandemic would be felt for a much longer trajectory.

Around March 20, a Trowbridge healthcare worker launched a one-woman protest about shoppers' panic-buying during the crisis.

The banners hung on the Tesco overbridge across County Way, Trowbridge

Sam Kyle, 43, put two banners on the County Way footbridge near Tesco urging people not to be greedy. One of the homemade banners says ‘Panic buying is selfish’, while the other says ‘We all need to eat.'

Sam said: “I have done this because I think that people are buying too much and everyone is taking things out of context.”

Some Wiltshire residents had their minds set only on one thing. A last Big Mac before the shops shut.

Customers made a dash for it to the Trowbridge branch of McDonald's on March 23, and the traffic that came with the rush caused tailbacks of up to 15 minutes on Bradley Road.

You might also remember the first death from Covid that was reported in the area.

The first death of a person suffering from the virus was confirmed at Great Western Hospital, Swindon. The man was in his 80s with underlying health conditions and died on 20 March 2020, just days before the country was put into tight lockdown restrictions.

A Great Western Hospitals NHS Trust spokesperson said: “Sadly, we can confirm that a man who was being cared for at Great Western Hospital and had tested positive for COVID-19, has died.

The way of life for communities across Wiltshire had changed completely, but some were feeling the impact more than others.

In a bid to ease the pressure on individuals struggling most, Wiltshire Community Foundation set up a fund to help voluntary groups tackle the new challenges people were experiencing.

CEO Geraldine Bentley of the Wiltshire Centre for Independent Living said on March 30, 2020: “Many of these people rely on personal assistants going in each day. We were inundated with people who were worried about what would happen if these PAs went down with the virus.”