ONE year ago, nobody could have imagined the devastation, upheaval and uncertainty 2020 would bring.
In the space of weeks, our lives changed forever as the world was plunged into a deadly pandemic. Horrifying images of swamped hospitals began to emerge, heightening fear that ours would be next and unable to cope with a tide of critically ill patients.
What began as a story which felt far removed from our lives, soon became all too real as cases and deaths began to hit home.
Here, the Telegraph & Argus takes a look back at some of the key moments of the pandemic, in a year dominated by one word - coronavirus.
The virus, then unknown, emerged in Wuhan, China, at the end of the December 2019.
The first cases in the UK were reported in January, when two members of the same family - a University of York student and a relative - tested positive for the virus.
At the end of February, the Bradford Royal Infirmary confirmed it was testing people for Covid-19 in special isolation pods, bringing the reality of the emerging situation ever closer to home.
Then in March, the first case in the Bradford district was confirmed, when an Ilkley resident tested positive.
Cases across the country began to rise and fears over the virus saw a jump in sales of hygiene products like hand sanitiser, with shelves in many shops left bare.
It was a sign of the ‘panic buying’ to come, resulting in many supermarkets introducing restrictions on certain items.
As the month moved on, the response to the virus ramped up dramatically. Events were cancelled, workers left their offices for the foreseeable future and face-to-face meetings were replaced by video calls as the country faced up to the devastating reality that loved ones would be lost “before their time”.
The day before the country was plunged into lockdown, key Bradford figures joined together to urge people to stay at home.
Professor John Wright, who has played a major role in the district’s response to the virus, warned: “This is going to cause a lot of deaths in the city. The storm is coming to West Yorkshire. Now is the time to take shelter, Everybody needs to stay at home. This will be for the foreseeable future.”
Then on March 23, strict new curbs on life were announced by Prime Minister Boris Johnson, confining people to their homes other than for limited, essential reasons. Shops pulled their shutters down; pubs pulled their final pints and silence fell over the city.
But in the darkest of days Bradford’s community spirit shone through. Countless stories emerged of the kind-hearted ways people looked out for each other, from providing meals for key workers to taking part in Clap for Carers, which became a weekly ritual for people to join together and show their support.
And the district couldn’t have been prouder when Keighley-born Captain Tom Moore inspired the nation - and the world - as he walked 100 laps of his garden by his 100th birthday to raise more than £32 million for NHS Charities Together.
Sadly, as the crisis continued, the heartbreaking stories of those taken by the virus in Bradford began to emerge, highlighting the very real human impact of the pandemic.
In June, the district was thrust into the national spotlight following a Covid outbreak at the Kober factory in Cleckheaton.
In the same month, a testing facility opened in Bradford’s Centenary Square - the domineering tent in front of City Hall a stark reminder of the public health crisis facing the city.
June saw the easing of lockdown as non-essential shops began to re-open. There were large queues in Bradford city centre as people flocked to Primark, while July 4, dubbed Super Saturday’ heralded the return of pubs, restaurants and hairdressers, followed by gyms later in the month - though this was to be short lived as new rules forced gym owners to shut their businesses again.
Just as life seemed to return to some sort of ‘normal’ there was dismay following an ‘eleventh hour’ tightening of restrictions for the district - just hours before Eid celebrations were due to begin.
The new term and pupils’ return to the classroom saw Covid-19 cases emerge in most schools across the district, with bubbles closed and both staff and pupils forced to self-isolate. As of early November, Bradford Council confirmed that 95 per cent of schools had one or more cases since September.
As Autumn dawned, the tier system was brought in across the country, before another national lockdown was announced to stem the rise in the rates of infection and hospital admissions from Covid-19.
Health chiefs in Bradford warned of tough months ahead and at Bradford Royal Infirmary, cases surpassed the numbers seen at the peak earlier in the year.
Lockdown restrictions were removed, but Bradford was placed in Tier 3 along with the rest of West Yorkshire, leaving an already battered hospitality sector facing more uncertainty and misery.
December brought a ray of hope as the rollout of the Pfizer-BioNTech to Bradford’s most vulnerable began, while the iconic St George’s Hall was turned into a rapid Covid-19 test centre.
But, it felt like a very different festive period, with tightened rules only allowing households to meet on Christmas Day.
This came against the backdrop of fears over the new mutant strain of the virus. 2020 drew to a close with Bradford and the rest of West Yorkshire still under Tier 3 restrictions, escaping Tier 4 for the time being. As 2021 begins, with the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine also approved for use in the UK, there are hopes for a brighter year ahead.
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