How has the Covid-19 affected people’s lives in Birmingham

It’s almost two years to the day that Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced that the country would be about to go into lockdown, ordering people to stay at home, for the first time on March 23.

Thankfully times have changed a lot since then. It can seem odd looking back, to think that you weren’t even allowed to mix with one other person outside at one time.

Covid cases are on the rise again in many parts of the UK, but there isn’t the same worries and restrictions as in previous months. But have those restrictions and the pandemic had long lasting affects on us?

We ask the people of Birmingham how they think Covid has impacted their lives.

You can see all the comments in our video at the top of this story. Or read a selection below. Let us know what you think too.

Naveed says: “The fact that it’s a two year anniversary for COVID is actually amazing in the sense that my brand on social media started growing because of the lockdown.

“When it was the first lockdown I decided to push hard on my content and my following just grew. And literally, the fact that it was a lockdown actually changed my life. So I’m grateful. So it’s not just a two year anniversary for COVID. It’s a two year anniversary for my social media brand success as a whole.”

Dougy says: “Massively. My father died in August of last year, not from COVID. But he was ill during that time and it was on August 27th when he passed, but the month preceding that me and my brother were not allowed in the hospital.

“It was only my mom who was allowed in there. Sort of the stress that you deal with when a loved one’s in hospital anyway, just tenfold, because you can’t offer that just that arm on the shoulder or just visibly seeing somebody - so that that was a massive one.

“But also my mental health was affected. It really made me refocus because we have so much more time by ourselves. You had no choice to either confront it or as a lot of people did - substance abuse went through the roof, alcoholism went through the roof, homelessness went through the roof, probably because of the first two. It contributed massively.

“So I think gratitude is the biggest thing that I took away from COVID and the restrictions but also made me refocus on my mental health, which I’m glad I did because my life’s never been better because of that.

“So I’m hoping that might be tenfold for everybody. Hopefully there’s a renewed focus on looking at your mental health and focusing on what’s inside and make yourself a better person thus making you better in society. I would hope so. That’s what I take away from it anyway.”

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