Tonight at 8pm buildings in Hull city centre will be lit yellow to honour those who have died with Coronavirus. The date marks a year since the first UK lockdown was announced and every person at the UK was first told to ‘stay at home, protect the NHS, save lives’.
Julia Weldon, Director of Public Health at Hull City Council, asked local people to join a national ‘beacon of light’ by standing on doorsteps with a candle, phone light or torch, or placing a light in a window. The pause for reflection follows a national minute silence at noon, which was honoured throughout the city.
The March 2020 lockdown sparked an immediate response in the city. As much of day-to-day life shut down, those in the NHS and other key workers continued to carry out critical work. Families moved to home-schooling, often alongside moving to working from home. Hull’s response hub ensured the most vulnerable in the city had food, medication and other support. Communities came together to protect each other and to stand on doorsteps to clap NHS workers.
Julia said: “We have all been through so much this past year. It is important that we take this moment to reflect and to honour those in our city who have lost their lives to Coronavirus. For some of you, those people will be a loved one and I offer you my sincere condolences.
“None of us could have known a year ago just how much and for how long this virus would affect our lives. It has been a difficult 12 months where every one of us has made sacrifices, experienced isolation and anxiety, missed out on people and pastimes we love. Some of us have lost work, seen businesses struggle, experienced our entire industry shutting down.
“Today, as we look back we do so from a position of hope. The most vulnerable in our city are now vaccinated against Coronavirus and we continue to protect more people every day. We have fewer and fewer people in our hospitals and in our intensive care beds. Fewer people are losing their lives.
“We will light buildings in the city centre yellow tonight and I invite all of you to join the beacon from your doorsteps or windows. I also again ask all of you to do everything you can to protect yourselves and others from this virus.
“Wear a face mask everywhere it is needed. Wash your hands frequently and for at least 20 seconds, or use hand sanitiser. Keep a two-metre distance from others and take steps like only one adult per household going to the shops. Continue to follow the rules and check them if you are unsure. Get your vaccine when you are invited and, crucially, immediately isolate and book a test if you have any one Coronavirus symptom. If you have a temperature, cough that doesn’t stop or your sense of taste of smell changes or disappears, stay at home, don’t leave and book that test.
“Thank you so much for all you have done so far. We can beat Coronavirus, but only if we carry on working together”.
Book a free test if you have symptoms: https://self-referral.test-for-coronavirus.service.gov.uk/antigen
Businesses – book free routine testing for employees who do not have symptoms: https://hullbooking.sishost.co.uk/onlinebookings/appointment.html
Families with a child at nursery, primary, secondary or college, or anyone working in an education environment, book free routine testing for everyone in a family and any bubbles, who do not have symptoms: https://www.gov.uk/order-coronavirus-rapid-lateral-flow-tests.
