This week marks three years since the then-Prime Minister acceded to warnings from Public Health England and declared the first coronavirus lockdown. On March 23, 2020, the nation tuned in to a press conference as Mr Johnson told every household: “You must stay home.”
The impact was immediate, as these photos of Sheffield city centre’s deserted streets remind us all. The new norm of seeing street after street with not a soul in sight – except, perhaps, spaced out two metres apart in queues outside supermarkets – will be hard to explain to future generations.
Take a look at these photos from 2020 and see if they stir up memories of those strange times.
5. Hillsborough Sheffield
Hillsborough dual carriageway is always packed and busy on match day for SWFC, but in March 2020 it could not be more polar opposite as it lay abandoned. Photo: DEAN ATKINS
6. Town Hall Fargate
An alternative view of a deserted Fargate from the Sheffield Town Hall as one of Sheffield city centre's busy areas suddenly became a ghost town. Photo: Marie Caley
7. Sheffield Parkway
Sheffield's main arterial road into the city, the parkway, always bustling with cars and drivers, sat unusually empty as the citizens of Sheffield adhere to Government advice and law. Photo: DEAN ATKINS
8. Peace Gardens Sheffield
The announcement of lockdown one in March 2020 really put the 'peace' into Sheffield's peace gardens, with nobody in sight. Photo: Marie Caley