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This week the UK reached an unimaginable milestone, with 100,000 deaths related to coronavirus being registered.
Across Bath and North East Somerset, 127 people have died within 28 days of a positive test since the start of the pandemic, with 7,199 cases being confirmed.
Every resident in the district has made sacrifices and faced difficult situations because of the pandemic, with businesses closing, jobs being lost and time with friends and loved ones being lost.
Experts have kept repeating how serious the situation is everywhere, including in Bath and North East Somerset.
We’ve seen the Royal United Hospital face extreme pressure and the highest number of coronavirus patients it has ever had.
The hospital has plans in place to increase its critical care capacity and staff have been pulled from minor injury units and even the military are helping out.
We’ve heard nurses speak out on how “overwhelming” the situation is and heard from survivors how serious the virus is.
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But how did we get to this point?
The second wave has seen cases far, far higher than the first lockdown in March all across the UK and Bath and North East Somerset is no exception.
Charts show what has happened so far in terms of case levels in our area, showing the highs and lows of the pandemic.
(Image: Public Health England)
March
On March 23, Bath and North East Somerset declared coronavirus a ‘major incident’ as the UK was plunged into lockdown.
It may seem crazy to think about now, but back on March 24, just three cases were recorded by Public Health England with an average of 3.3 a week.
Now it’s important to remember that early on, the symptoms of the virus weren’t as well known, so it’s likely a fair number were walking around not knowing they were sick and therefore it wasn’t recorded.
(Image: PA)
April
As we went into April, cases gradually rose from week to week.
On April 6, we had 11 cases reported and an average of 6.7 a week.
We started to see testimonies of people struck very ill with coronavirus like Clare Hill, who worked at Keynsham Co-op and went into a coma.
On April 9 it was confirmed the Royal United Hospital had already recorded 32 deaths.
(Image: Bath Chronicle)
Cases peaked in the first wave just a day later on April 10, when 16 cases were reported and a weekly average of 8.6.
From then on, our numbers seemed to remain at an average of about 6 cases reported each week.
We finished April with 11 cases reported on April 30 and an average of 6.3 a week.
May
May kicked off with the anti-cyclist attacks and ‘Covidiot cyclists’ road sign in Somerset debacle which was picked up by Jeremy Vine.
The highest number of cases reported on a single day in May was May 2, which had eight cases reported.
On average, the first week of May saw cases fall in our area to an average of 2.6 a week, as reported on May 7.
(Image: Paul Gillis)
For the rest of the month, the average number of cases a week never went higher than 2.7, as recorded on May 19.
It even fell to some days having no new cases reported and the average got as low as 0.9 new cases a week on May 26.
June
June saw restrictions eased slightly and by the time the rule of six was introduced, case numbers had dropped to an all time low.
In Bath, we had a resident of the Royal Crescent who had been forced to sleep in his bath tub due to youths ‘shrieking like wild animals’ on laughing gas at all hours of the day and night.
Our average case rate did not go higher than one a week and it seemed like the worst was behind us.
July
July again saw the easing of restrictions even further as nail bars and salons were allowed to open.
It seemed like everyone was heading down to the West Country on holidays and delays were being reported each weekend on the motorways.
In Bath, we had the huge rave attended by 3,000 people in Upper Swainswick for which last week saw two more people arrested.
It was also on July 11 that facemasks were made compulsory in shops and confined spaces.
Like the previous month, Bath and North East Somerset didn’t record many cases with the highest weekly average just going up to 1.1 on July 28.
August
The first two weeks of August saw case numbers begin to creep up, coinciding with the government’s ‘Eat Out to Help Out’ scheme which saw hundreds of restaurants in Bath take part.
The peak of cases in that month came on August 20, when 10 were reported on one day, bringing the average up to 4.3.
September
Septemer started much the same as August, with the first two weeks seeing the highest daily case rate of 7 on September 6.
In Bath, we had the Kennet and Avon canal disaster, which saw 49 boats stranded when a sluice gate broke and one man just had time to fling his dogs to safety as his boat went down.
We also had the bomb scare at the Royal Mail depot, which saw a huge armed police response.
Come September 21, the average had crept up to 6.4 a week, with a daily total of 8.
Over the following days, the curve of the second wave started to appear. By September 30, the average had shot up to 16.6 cases a week, with a daily total that day of 17.
October
October saw the start of very high case numbers once more as the picture in Bath and North East Somerset deteriorated quickly.
In just a week, our daily total of cases went up to 63, and by October 7, our weekly average was as high as 43.9.
October 7 was, at that time, the most infectious day of the whole of the pandemic, yet it was only a sign of more trouble still to come.
On October 21, a new high of cases was reached, with 114 reported in a single day as our average went up to 64.7.
On October 23, Bath and North East Somerset Council’s director of public health, Dr Bruce Laurence said the area was in “real danger” of lockdown.
He said: “We are treading a fine line and there is a real danger that we could see Bath and North East Somerset follow other areas which are now in the higher alert levels.”
Just six days later, we saw another huge day of cases, with 109 reported on October 27 as our average went to an even higher 77.7.
November
In a sudden announcement, Boris Johnson announced that England would go into a second national lockdown to help stop the spread of coronavirus.
As expected, cases continued to be high for the first two weeks of November, with the highest number being 105 on November 13 as our weekly average rose to 66.4.
And come November 22, cases had come down drastically, showing that the national lockdown was working as the number of daily cases fell to 27 and our average had dropped significantly to 24.9.
(Image: Artur Lesniak/Reach)
The government also announced its new tier system as it was revealed that Bath would go into tier 2 when the lockdown ended.
November 28 saw the lowest number of cases reported of 13 in a day and our average had marginally increased to 25.9.
December
Bath and North East Somerset carried on in tier 2 for December, while neighbouring areas like Bristol were moved up into tier 3.
Businesses remained open and people were out and about doing Christmas shopping.
On December 1, our case average weekly number of cases was 29.4, which for December 7 had fallen to 24.9. This went up the following week to 30 on December 14.
The following week on December 21 our cases reached a huge peak in December of 88 in a day and our weekly rate was now 44.9.
(Image: Jon Godfrey)
It was around this time that London and the South East were placed into a new ‘tier 4’ and told not to go ahead with the Christmas regulations and it was announced Somerset, Bristol and Gloucester would all move up into tier 3.
Dr Laurence said that Bath and North East Somerset was unlikely to stay in tier 2 as the new coronavirus strain was certainly circulating in the area.
By December 30, a new tier review announced Somerset would be moving up into tier 4 and Bath and North East Somerset would go up to tier 3.
January
By January, things quickly went from bad to worse.
On New Year’s Day, our area recorded 69 new cases in a day and our average was 98.7 – the highest average yet in the pandemic.
Talks of a second lockdown were being discussed and shortly on January 4, Boris Johnson announced a third national lockdown.
One day later, Bath and North East Somerset recorded the highest level of cases ever in a single day with 142 as the average surpassed its own previous peak to reach 110.7.
(Image: Public Health England)
But even that wasn’t the highest daily total of cases.
It was on January 11 that 156 cases were confirmed, the highest seen in the Bath area over the course of the pandemic.
Meanwhile the number of patients in hospital was rising incredibly fast. During the first wave, the highest total of patients in the RUH was 49 on April 10.
By January 16, that number was reported as high as 121.
Since then, cases have started to fall, but they are still as high as they were at the end of October and November and way above anything seen in the first peak in April and May.
On January 20, the cases had fallen to 89 a day and 66.9 a week on average.
Last week, Dr Bruce Laurence, Bath and North East Somerset council’s director of public health said that whilst its good cases have started to fall, they aren’t falling quick enough and hospital admissions could still rise.
He explained previously that cases peaked in our area on January 15 but that hospital admissions still have the potential to rise due to the lag between getting the virus and needing hospital treatment.
The Royal United Hospital in Bath saw the number of coronavirus patients in the hospital jump to a new high with 126 and 19 on ventilation.
A nurse at the RUH spoke about how overwhelming the experience is for healthcare workers inside the hospital at the moment.
In terms of vaccine roll-out, a new mass vaccination centre has been opened on Bath Racecourse.
