On Monday, March 23, 2020, the world as we knew it changed for good.

The UK was plunged into full lockdown to prevent the onward march of a new, deadly and invisible threat which was already claiming the lives of our nearest and dearest.

Covid-19, a coronavirus, has now taken the lives of 2,496 people in Derbyshire with 67,732 county and city residents having tested positive for the virus. These deaths represent thousands of voids in our lives which will not and cannot be filled.

When the nation was first plunged into lockdown, Derbyshire and Derby had recorded 12 Covid-19 deaths and 250 cases of the virus – though testing at that time was limited to hospital patients and health staff.

Derbyshire had seen one of the first few known cases of the new virus reported on February 27, linked to Burbage Primary School, in Buxton, with news of Derby's first case nearly two weeks later on March 11.

The lead-up to our first lockdown, and the start of that first wholesale restriction on our lives, saw Derbyshire in the national limelight.

Scores of people travelled to Matlock Bath and other tourist hotspots in Derbyshire despite warnings of the virus and to maintain distance – with no face covering advice yet in force.

These actions were condemned by many, but resulted in a need for more urgent measures to take choice away and for people to take the situation more seriously.

As lockdown came into force, Derbyshire Police used drone technology to monitor those walking in the Peak District, far from home.

A social media video including footage of these non-essential trips featured in the then daily Downing Street press conferences.

Our lives were punctuated by these briefings and the tales shared within them.

With our regular routines left by the wayside and the reality that the last time we had seen our friends, family, loved ones and colleagues were in fact the final times for an entirely unknown period.

Covid-19 is now part of our regular vocabulary, along with "stay at home", "social distancing"; "hands, face, space"; and "you're on mute".

One year on since that first lockdown was announced by Boris Johnson, a date which will stretch on throughout history, we look back on 12 months which we will all remember – the good, the bad, the heart-wrenching and the hopeful.

Lockdown begins

Over the past year we were advised of a need to "flatten the curve" and that we must "stay home, save lives, protect the NHS".

As soon as lockdown was called we saw people panic, stockpiling supplies, particularly pasta, toilet paper.

Queues stretched around supermarkets and fuel prices plummeted, our high streets and town and city centres were deserted.

Our social lives, businesses and future plans have all been paused for the best part of the last year, with many of us completely unaware or unprepared for what the next year would bring.

Holidays and weddings were cancelled, only a couple of mourners could attend funerals, with comfort and hugs not allowed. Children missed out on hundreds of hours of in-school education and valuable time with their friends.

Patients were cared for in hospitals and care homes alone and unable to see loved ones. Many of which died alone with families saying farewell over video-chats arranged by heartbroken staff.

And countless businesses have closed their doors for good – leaving many without jobs.

There has been a significant spike in mental health illnesses with Covid-19 anxiety and isolation proving an immense burden on already pressured lives and thousands have been left waiting many months for treatment and surgery.

Charities and social services have borne witness to an increase in families needing food parcels, adults and children being trapped in homes with their abusers and unable to escape.

And many have been out to work, every day out of necessity and to continue essential public services.

Our health and care staff have moved out of their homes and distanced themselves from their own families in order to help others. They have suffered immense loss, heartbreak, pressure and stress which will not be shaken.

As the weeks wore on we clapped, honked our horns and banged pots and pans for our NHS, our carers, and all of our key workers. This, too, punctuated our lives and provided respite from the monotony and anxiety of enforced isolation and show our respect.

Communities scrambled to create support networks for their neighbours. Rainbows filled windows as a sign of solidarity.

Respite but not for long

Since that first lockdown we emerged briefly for a summer before months of complex tiered restrictions between counties and cities.

We now have mandatory rules in place for face coverings in supermarkets and on public transport – which has caused division among the minority.

The summer's Eat Out to Help Out discount scheme saw our cafes, restaurants and pubs thrive again, with thousands able to return to work from furlough and households leaving their homes for one of few times in months – but this was to come at a cost.

We were plunged into a second national lockdown in November in a bid to save Christmas and squash a second peak which had seen infection levels and hospital inpatient numbers pushed to the extreme.

After this we had a December fraught with concern about whether we could see our families or whether Christmas, just as with other numerous holidays and celebrations during 2020, would be carried out in isolation with no congregation.

A new form of the virus emerged and alongside winter conditions and fatigue after a year of self-sacrifice, we entered a third peak of Covid which would outshoot all we had seen before.

Our hospitals were stretched to beyond breaking point, hundreds were called back from retirement and rallied from other services to help pitch-in and maintain support – and not without a cost with issues such post traumatic stress disorder on the rise.

Hope was on the horizon though. And that hope came with the roll-out of the world's first approved Covid-19 vaccine, developed by Pfizer and BioNTech.

Vaccines

Royal Derby Hospital and Chesterfield Royal Hospital started Derbyshire's colossal vaccination programme on December 8.

They were among the first sites in the world to do so, due to their expertise and technology able to keep the vaccines super-cold and stable.

The combined work of an army of health and care staff, pharmacists, community nurses, volunteers and retired workers began the roll-out of Covid-19 vaccines to hundreds of thousands of people in the county and city.

This has now seen nearly 400,000 Derbyshire residents vaccinated against the virus – approaching half of the county's adult population.

Community centres, leisure halls, churches and even Derby Arena have been commandeered to serve new purposes as vaccination sites. Staff and volunteers also pushed through the roll-out house-to-house to those most vulnerable.

Hospitals

Our hospitals have been the face of the pandemic's impact on society, the frankly undeniable proof of the effect of Covid-19 on our population, young and old, frail and strong.

When Covid peaked in our communities, much of which was and still is unseen by many due to lockdown and enforced isolation, our hospitals bore the brunt of the virus.

Early in the pandemic, and from the first lockdown on March 23, our hospitals were not home to a huge number of Covid-19 patients and isolation and testing procedures were nowhere near as rigorous or available.

There were cavernous shortfalls in personal protective equipment such as visors, face masks, aprons and gloves.

Face masks on hospital sites also were not mandatory.

Staff and leadership braced for the worst, but the worst, as many have testified and experienced, was beyond the imaginable.

Nurses, doctors, porters, cleaning staff, receptionists and pharmacists, among many more, went beyond their duties, working overtime, returning from retirement and from other organisations to help prop up our local NHS services.

Officials at the University Hospitals of Derby and Burton NHS Foundation Trust launched huge intensive care unit expansion plans to provide enough specialist facilities for those requiring ventilation and oxygen support.

On April 8, just over two weeks into lockdown, the trust experienced the highest number of Covid deaths it has clocked to date – 25 lives lost to the virus within 24 hours.

Health and social care staff have also been among the fallen, with their sacrifices to support our loved ones, placing themselves in the line of fire for our benefit – including for those patients who did not believe in the virus. This is a debt which cannot be repaid.

Staff have spoken of how the deaths of their own colleagues are among the moments which shook them to their cores and have continued to represent the harshest realities of the pandemic.

Our hospitals have, in the past year, treated thousands of Covid-19 patients, peaking at more than 700 at one time in January.

Medics have made clear that for a dozen patients to be in a large hospital with the same illness at the same time is extremely rare.

Comparisons to flu have been repeatedly and overwhelmingly rejected with hospitals rarely treating a single flu patient in a year.

Despite this, our hospitals have faced protests by Covid-deniers, who have also abused intensive care staff at Royal Derby Hospital as they finish grueling shifts.

Thousands of patients have been discharged from our hospitals after being treated for the virus. Many will need long-term support for long-Covid and other ailments as a result of the virus' impact.

The rate at which people are discharged has improved on a huge scale as the pandemic progressed, with new treatments researched and rolled out. After wave one, one in three patients admitted with Covid, died. Now that is at one in four.

Despite discharge and treatment success and the heroic efforts of staff, our hospitals have seen hundreds of patients with Covid in intensive care and thousands have died, totalling 1,618 at Derby and Burton's hospitals as of March 15.

Meanwhile, through the peak of the first wave, patients were being discharged from our hospitals to care homes without being tested for Covid-19, due to national government guidance at the time.

At Derby and Burton's hospitals this totalled nearly 380 patients between March 1 and April 15. What followed was a series of outbreaks in our care homes leading to numerous deaths.

Quotes

Angie Smithson, chief executive for the Chesterfield Royal Hospital NHS Foundation Trust, said: "This past year has been a monumental challenge for all of us, but one that's brought out the best in people.

"There was the overwhelming outpouring of kindness and support from the community through messages of thanks on our social media pages, donations, gifts, fundraising and general appreciation for our efforts.

"You will never know what a difference that made to our teams, it gave us the energy and impetus to keep going and get us to where we are now.

"We've found new ways of working, some that we will keep such as virtual clinics and telephone consultations.

"We've worked outside of our normal environments to support the care for all our patients, learning new skills with areas changing shape and purpose to cope with any given change.

"We've experienced personal tragedy and loss with little time to reflect or mourn, but we've come through it together.

"It's been difficult for patients and visitors as well, especially with visiting restricted and the wearing of face masks, and we'd like to thank you all for your support in respecting our safety measures and playing your part in seeing numbers fall.

"There's room for optimism but still some way to go and I would urge people to continue to follow all current government guidelines as we start to come out of lockdown.

"Then we will truly be able to reflect on what's happened and look to the future, but never forget this past year and what we've all been a part of."

Gavin Boyle, chief executive of the University Hospitals of Derby and Burton NHS Foundation Trust, said:

"Our staff have seen first-hand the impact Covid- 19 has had on more than 6,000 members of our communities and on their wider friends and family.

"This has been very difficult at times but due to the dedication and professionalism of our staff, and advances in treatments, many thousands of people have returned to their loved ones.

"Our people have truly been exceptional over these past 12 months and I'm proud of everyone connected to our trust.

"We haven't done this alone. The impact of Covid-19 has been felt right across health and social care, and our wider partners.

"Those working in social care, primary care, local authorities, emergency services and the voluntary sector have all played a vital role in providing care to those with Covid-19 and supporting their families.

"There is still a long road ahead. Whether we will see another wave or the emergence of new variants that significantly change how we contain the virus remains to be seen.

"But the vast amount of learning and partnership working over the past year, including the successful roll out of the vaccine across the NHS, allows us to look to the future with some confidence.

"It is our people, and those they work with, who are our greatest asset in the fight against Covid-19.

"No matter what direction the pandemic takes, we know that our communities can rely on them to provide the care they need across Derbyshire, Staffordshire and beyond."

Public health

A lesser-known or infrequently highlighted role of our local councils is the duty of public health. Its budget has been cut for years and many would assume it is handled nationally.

Through the past year our local public health teams – led by Derbyshire County Council and Derby City Council – have been at the forefront of tracking the pandemic within the county and city.

Through the past 12 months they have taken on new roles to roll-out and operate local Covid testing sites and mobile units.

Every area of Derbyshire now has a community testing site for those without symptoms for the virus. There are also sites for key workers and those with symptoms.

Our councils have hired expert staff and trained up colleagues to carry out contact tracing in a bid to quash outbreaks and provide vital data on who the virus is affecting the most.

They have also been providing key links to support services for those struggling with self-isolation, both mentally and financially.

Our public health directors, Dr Robyn Dewis in Derby city and Dean Wallace in Derbyshire county – who are not political, elected appointments – became key faces of the fight against Covid in the county.

They provided us with regular insights into what was happening with the pandemic on a local level, what residents should do to help protect themselves, loved ones and their community, also explaining why they should do so and giving key explainers and debunking myths about the virus, face masks, hand hygiene, vaccination and social distancing.

Mr Wallace and his team intervened to prevent a music festival from going ahead near Ironville and Riddings in Amber Valley, with the local council hamstrung by legislation void of pandemic-preventing objection allowances.

Both Mr Wallace and Dr Dewis voiced concerns about the lack of information being passed to their teams to, in no uncertain terms, enable them to do their jobs and avoid, as it was phrased, trying to shoot in the dark.

Slowly but surely these test and trace processes were passed over to local teams at our councils, after proving their significant worth despite pitiful comparative budgets.

Schools were closed on and off, class by class and year group by year group following outbreaks and cases of Covid-19. Our public health directors stressed a need for social distancing and masks while at school gates for pick-up and drop-off.

Outbreaks in the community fluctuated around the county.

Dr Dewis told the LDRS: "It has been a really strong demonstration about how public health has a really huge impact on all of society.

"It has also been really positive to see everybody pulling together, a common aim to reduce the spread of the virus.

"Although we know this could happen, this is still really shocking, and however much you prepare for something this is still a really shocking thing to happen.

"What will be really driving us forward in the future, if this were to happen again, is how we can make sure that we haven't got groups in the city who are disadvantaged in such a way that they will have been adversely affected in the way they have been.

"That has been the most difficult thing to see – how unfair the virus is."

Police

Our police officers and staff have continued their duties throughout the pandemic but with new burdens which have frequently been muddied.

New powers to enforce measures aimed at controlling the spread of the virus have seen our police force stretched and under-pressure.

The oversight and coverage of these measures came into question with often unclear lines on what is and is not a breach of lockdown. Neighbourhoods reported thousands of breaches.

In the second week of lockdown our police force reported 6,400 crime incidents reported.

The force has since handed out more than 1,600 fines to Covid rule-breakers, with five £10,000 penalties for breaches including illegal raves and house parties.

The force acknowledges it has not always got it right.

In January, the force reviewed all of its fixed penalty notices issued for Covid breaches after a complaint from two women fined £200 each for meeting up at Foremark Reservoir, just five miles from their respective homes. These particular fines were overturned.

Usage of drone footage filmed in the Peak District to discourage lockdown breaches saw the force hit headlines and branded "overzealous" and "disgraceful".

Police were the pinch point between communities fearing for their safety, breaking up disputes, dispersing Covid-breachng gatherings and very much aware and concerned about the crimes which would largely go unseen due to lockdown – including child and domestic abuse.

Communities have also applauded the police for their endeavours despite the risk to themselves and their families through close interactions with residents and potential criminals who may also have Covid-19.

The force has reported 338 cases of Covid-19 within its own staff and in March one in five police officers and staff (20 per cent) was off work either through illness, shielding guidance and due to being in close contact with someone found to have contracted the virus.

Aims to set up a Nightingale Court in Derbyshire were raised in the first few months of lockdown to ensure that justice could be served, both for victims, suspects and their loved ones.

Derbyshire has continued to be overlooked for these emergency court solutions.

Rachel Swann, Derbyshire's Police Chief Constable, said: "It is fair to say over the last year we have not got everything right, but I must be clear that this is not through incompetence, a lack of professionalism or a dearth of ability.

"My colleagues were placed in a position that left rules, at times, open to interpretation; this is unsurprising given the pace at which new legislation was being delivered.

"This was my first year in charge of the Constabulary, and I can honestly say that I could not be prouder of each and every one of my colleagues, officers, staff and volunteers alike, who in the face of extraordinary pressures, have worked in a way that, while not surprising, is truly humbling to me.

"I would also like to extend my sincere thanks to the people of Derbyshire.

"With a population of more than a million people, the vast majority observed the rules,

acted responsibly and helped reduce the spread of this terrible disease.

"Finally, I would like to, on behalf of the Constabulary, send my thoughts and best wishes to all of those who have lost loved ones.

"The manner in which this disease kills has robbed many of those precious last moments that mean so much, and my heart goes out to you."

Business

The past year has been unquestionably tough for our county and city's businesses, many of which have closed despite payments aimed at propping up finances throughout the series of lockdowns and restrictions.

Huge sums of money have been spent on making shops, attractions and hospitality venues safe or a lower-risk to the public.

Businesses were supported with millions of pounds in grants to pay wages, but for many this was not to be enough with rent payments building and stocks spoiling while their venues remained closed.

Locals overseeing pubs sought to bargain with their breweries to pause payments with some successful and others turned away.

Many hospitality firms pivoted and switched their trade to the allowed takeaway service, providing a lease of life to businesses aiming to keep their heads above water.

This also provided a vital support system for those most in need.

Many local businesses in our county pitched in to donate meals to families whose children were entitled to free-school meals, and to elderly or at-risk residents who could not risk leaving their homes.

Other companies switched to production of PPE and a Derby firm SureScreen was granted a government contract to provide 20 million rapid Covid-19 tests.

David Nieper, based in Alfreton, a womenswear manufacturer, switched tracks to assist our hospitals and the wider NHS.

Rolls-Royce used its expert production line to produce visors for healthcare workers, with thousands distributed across the East Midlands from Derby.

We've lost firms which have been a staple of our high streets, including Debenhams, and the recent announcement that Derbyshire-based chocolatier Thorntons is to close all of its shops, aside from those under franchise agreements.

Our high streets, which had already been in decline, face an uphill battle to regain their bustling economy.

Community

Residents throughout our communities have come together over the past year in a wave of togetherness not seen for generations.

This brought neighbours closer together while staying apart. We sat in our gardens and on our doorsteps to play bingo and ease isolation with regular talks over tea – from a distance.

We found new ways to socialise from our own homes through virtual calls and quiz nights, celebrating birthdays and landmark achievements through our respective screens.

We have had holidays and trips "abroad" in our own back gardens and tried to make the best out of the worst of times.

Our communities created groups to coordinate resources and sympathetic ears to assist and listen to those in need and to ease mental stress.

Street-by-street and house-by-house we organised food parcels and deliveries of vital supplies and created bonds and lines of communication which will stretch on far after the pandemic.

Our communities were not without divides with pockets seeking to ignore the pandemic and put others at risk, flouting guidance and infection prevention measures.

However, this, too, saw neighbourhoods support each other by giving advice and if needs be ensuring that dangerous breaches saw police action.

Charities and new food banks providing resources throughout our communities have provided their benefit and value beyond measure.

They have been the eyes and ears identifying who is in need of support, whether that is for food, mental welfare or child and domestic abuse.

Taxi drivers have given free or discounted lifts to those needing transport to Covid-19 vaccine appointments.

An army of volunteers from our communities have been the vital impetus for not just Covid testing facilities but also the vaccination programme under way across our county and city.

They have taken leave from other jobs, come out of retirement to help out or given all of their free time to help vaccinate Derbyshire against the virus.

Our communities have come together, have sometimes frayed, but have grown stronger through the past year, through shared losses and widespread support networks. It has been a year we will all remember but one many will want to forget.