UK reflects on 'grief and loss,' a year from first lockdown
LONDON (AP) — The U.K. has had a lot to reflect on.
A year to the day since Prime Minister Boris Johnson first put the country under lockdown to slow the fast-spreading coronavirus, Britain paused Tuesday to remember those who have died after contracting COVID-19 and reflect on a 12-month period that has turned life upside down.
The U.K., which has spent much of the past year in lockdown, has registered more than 126,000 virus-related deaths, the highest pandemic death toll in Europe and one of the highest in the world.
The country observed a minute’s silence at noon to remember the dead as part of a national day of reflection organized by the end-of-life charity Marie Curie. People were also encouraged to stand on their doorsteps at 8 p.m. with phones, candles and flashlights to signify a “beacon of remembrance” while major landmarks were illuminated.
Johnson thanked the British public for their “courage, discipline and patience" and said a permanent memorial to those who died during the coronavirus pandemic will be built.
“For the entire British people it has been an epic of endurance and privation,” Johnson said at a televised news conference. “Of children’s birthday parties canceled, of weddings postponed, of family gatherings of all kinds simply deleted from the diary."
Queen Elizabeth II sent a bouquet of flowers to London’s St. Bartholomew’s Hospital, where her husband, Prince Philip, was recently treated for a heart condition.
“As we look forward to a brighter future together, today we pause to reflect on the grief and loss that continues to be felt by so many people and families, and pay tribute to the immeasurable service of those who have supported us all over the last year," she said in an accompanying note.
London’s skyline...