Hope ahead as Wales marks two years since first Covid lockdown

It’s been two years since the first Covid lockdown came into force.

On March 23, 2020, Wales, alongside the rest of the UK, went into a full lockdown – affecting nearly every aspect of our lives.

Businesses closed, people began working from home, and a great sense of uncertainty lingered.

Since the onset of the pandemic more than two years ago, more than 49,700 confirmed cases have been recorded in Caerphilly County Borough, with more than 280,000 tests recorded.

In total, there have been 581 deaths involving Covid in the borough since the pandemic began.

While two years later, life has returned to almost normal, the route from lockdown has been bumpy.

Restrictions were eased in the summer of 2020, but the emergence of new variants brought new challenges and new waves of restrictions.

The autumn of 2020 saw restrictions re-introduced, with Caerphilly County Borough becoming the first council area in Wales to be placed under a local lockdown – with most other boroughs following in the days and weeks after.

The local lockdowns were followed by a 17-day firebreak lockdown, before a tiered system was introduced as Wales was placed under Alert Level 4 just before Christmas 2020.

But a new year saw new hope as the vaccine rollout got into full swing in early 2021. A high vaccine uptake meant restrictions were gradually eased throughout the first half of 2021. By August, most restrictions, including social distancing and limits on gatherings, had been scrapped – with Alert Level Zero restrictions coming into place.

At Alert Level Zero, face masks remained compulsory in shops, health settings and on public transport – but for many people, life suddenly started to feel normal again.

However, the virus had other ideas, with the Omicron variant emerging right before Christmas. The Welsh Government responded by moving Wales back up to Alert Level 2 from December 26.

This meant sports events had to be played behind closed doors, while nightclubs were ordered to close and table service and mask wearing was reintroduced at pubs and restaurants.

These measures were reversed at the end of January, with Wales moving back to Alert Level Zero.

The Welsh Government indicated earlier this month that all remaining measures, such as mask wearing and self-isolation, could be scrapped at the end of March.

The Welsh Government will hold its three-week review on Thursday, March 24 to decide whether or not to ease measures. However, rising cases of the new Omicron subtype BA.2 could potentially delay this.

However, two years on from the first Covid lockdown, the world is facing yet another crisis – Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine.

Like at the start of Covid, the invasion has created a sense of uncertainty around the globe.

Closer to home, communities have come together to show support for Ukraine and the people fleeing their homes to escape the war.

During the early days of lockdown, windowsills across the borough were decorated in rainbows – now those rainbows have, in many cases, been replaced by the yellow and blue of the Ukrainian flag.

Likewise, as the community rallied around those most affected by Covid, such as setting up food banks and fundraising for the NHS, similar efforts are being made for the humanitarian crisis unfolding on the other side of our continent.