Covid-19 - Dornoch Coronavirus Chronicle - Eerie Dornoch Square
A pneumonia of unknown cause was detected in Wuhan, China on 31 December 2019, declared to be a 'Public Health Emergency' by the World Health Organisation (WHO) on 30 January 2020 , given the name Covid-19 on 11 February 2020 and ultimately characterised as a 'Pandemic' by WHO on 12 March 2020. An indication of likely impact was signified on 13 March when 20,000 cases and 1,000 deaths had been registered in the European region and on the same date locally NHS Scotland set in motion the cancellation of elective surgery to maximise hospital bed availability.
On 23 March the UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced steps to be taken to 'Stay at Home, Protect the NHS and Save Lives'. Restrictions were imposed, initially for a period of 3 weeks, to slow the spread of the disease and reduce the number of people needing hospital treatment, in particular limiting demands placed on NHS critical care beds. The restrictions quickly became known as 'Lock-down'.
Dornoch residents very properly followed the national government restrictions, staying at home and only leaving for very limited purposes, such as buying food and medicine, exercising once a day or seeking medical attention . When leaving home individuals were required to maintain 'social distancing' with two metres separation from anyone outside of their own household. Travel to and from work was permitted but, as possible, working from home was encouraged.
With the closure of bus services, hotels, schools, the majority of shops and all places of social gathering, there was a noticeable absence of traffic in the town. This coupled with limited outings by residents, resulted in an eerily quiet, deserted Dornoch Square and adjacent areas.
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