In a tweet, Boris Johnson, external marked the anniversary of the first coronavirus lockdown with a statement.

He said the last 12 months have "taken a huge toll on us all" and offered his sincere condolences to the loved ones of all those who had died.

Today's anniversary was "an opportunity to reflect on the past year - one of the most difficult in our country's history," he said.

"We should also remember the great spirit shown by our nation over this past year," he said, saying we have "all played our part".

"It's because of every person in this country that lives have been saved," he added.

Image source, PA Media

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge have taken part in a private moment of reflection in Westminster Abbey to remember those who lost their lives in pandemic.

William and Kate were visiting the abbey's vaccination centre to pay tribute to the efforts of staff and volunteers.

First Minister Mark Drakeford pays tribute to the Welsh public for uniting "in the darkest of times" as the country marks one year since the start of the first UK lockdown.

Mr Drakeford was speaking from the Welsh Government's Cathays Park building after holding a minute's silence to mark the anniversary.

He says: "In the darkest of times, we have come together as a country."And because of that, today we mark this anniversary with a sense of hope.

"Our fantastic vaccine programme is protecting thousands of people every day and we're relaxing the restrictions we have lived with for so long.

"As the first shoots of spring appear, we can all have real hope that this year can be so much better than the last."

Wales remembers those lost to the virus.

Image source, Parliament TV

MPs paused proceedings in the House of Commons to observe the minute's silence, with Speaker Sir Lindsay Hoyle telling the chamber: "Every single one of us has been affected.

"It is right that we pause now, together with the whole country, to remember those who have died and those who are bereaved.

"Can I say that those colleagues who work with us who have also died, who were serving this House, our thoughts and prayers will always be with them and they will not be forgotten."

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Sir Lindsay says he hopes the "green shoots" were emerging, adding: "Hopefully we'll have a world that comes back to all of us, none more so than the role that members have played in this House and the way that we've worked together - not only for the Government to legislate, but to ensure the Opposition can scrutinise as well.

"It's been so important for us all to get to this stage and hopefully when we get beyond it we will see a House that comes back," he says.

Sir Lindsay added "we will be doing something" to remember those who worked in Parliament who have died.

Image source, Parliament TV

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The Queen has marked the Covid lockdown anniversary by sending a bouquet of flowers to St Bartholemew's Hospital in London, where the Duke of Edinburgh was treated for a heart condition.

The bouquet of irises, tulips, mixed narcissi and ranunculus were taken to the hospital, along with a message from the Queen.

The message read: "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."

Staff across the Barts Health NHS trust came together for the minute's silence at midday to reflect on the past year.

A year on from the UK's first lockdown and the Lancashire towns of Blackburn and Burnley have consistently had higher Covid-19 infection rates than the rest of England.

But statistics can often seem real only when they become deeply personal - and painful.

Assad Waheed lost his father Mian Abdul Waheed to Covid in December.

He says: "There is not a day that goes by where I don't feel his presence. He's dearly missed.

"So many people have lost their fathers," he told the BBC. "A good friend of mine lost his wife. A neighbour of ours passed away recently, too."

Prof Dominic Harrison, Blackburn with Darwen Council's public health director, says local people went into the pandemic with higher than average levels of ill health and that this had increased their Covid-19 risk from the start.

They were more likely to need oxygen treatment in hospital, more likely to end up on a ventilator and more likely to die, he says.

Here's why Blackburn and Burnley were hardest hit in the pandemic.

A minute's silence is being observed in the UK at noon in remembrance of those in the country who died as a result of coronavirus.

A day of reflection is being held as the UK marks the anniversary of the first lockdown.

On 23 March 2020 Prime Minister Boris Johnson outlined measures to stop the spread of Covid-19. Since then, the UK's official death toll, external has risen from 364 to 126,172.

The PM has offered his "sincere condolences to those who have lost loved ones".

Image source, EPA

French President Emmanuel Macron has issued a rallying cry to expand vaccinations, which he says is at the heart of the country’s fight against Covid-19.

Macron says vaccinations will be available to people over 70 from Saturday, with jabs rolled out during public holidays and weekends.

Until Macron’s announcement only people over the age of 75, or those with underlying health conditions, had been eligible for vaccinations in France.

"Vaccination is a national priority," Macron tells reporters during a visit to a vaccination centre in Valenciennes.

"We're going to change pace from April," he says, adding there should be "no weekend and days off when it comes to vaccinations".

Macron says he wants to set up “a dedicated vaccination campaign” for teachers as soon as possible, but stresses that priority will be given to the most vulnerable at the moment.

So far, France has given 6.1 million people - or 9.25% of its population - one dose of vaccine, according to the CovidTracker website, external.

Events are taking place across the UK today as part of a national day of reflection to remember those who have died with coronavirus.

Image source, PA Media

Image source, PA Media

Image source, Reuters

Image source, PA Media

Image source, Getty Images

The low-cost steroid dexamethasone has saved 22,000 lives in the UK and millions across the world, Health Secretary Matt Hancock says, citing newly released data.

Hancock says he is "delighted" at the news, which he says shows Britain can be a "global leader in the fight against the pandemic".

It was a UK trial last year that showed for the first time that the drug could save lives, and it has since been used in the NHS.

Read our explainer here on what it is and how it works.

Image source, EPA

As Germany and other European countries tighten lockdown restrictions, Denmark has agreed a plan to open up.

On Monday Denmark’s government confirmed a roadmap for gradually easing restrictions in the country in April and May.

From 6 April, more children will be able to return to school, before restaurants, theatres and other businesses will be allowed to reopen a month later.

Denmark’s Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen says she is hoping to lift almost all restrictions once everyone over the age of 50 has been vaccinated.

However, much of the reopening plan only applies to people who have a so-called vaccine passport, which shows whether a person has had a jab.

Denmark has gradually eased its lockdown as infection rates have dropped.

The picture is mixed across Europe, but many of the biggest countries, such as Germany, France and Italy, have seen a marked rise in infections in recent weeks.

This comes as European countries scramble to vaccinate their populations, despite delays in rolling our jabs that have stirred political tensions.

Image source, Reuters

BBC Radio 5 Live

BBC Radio 5 Live has been hearing from people whose lives have changed dramatically in the last year.

Rachel Taylor and Scott Gretton's lives look very different one year on from the first UK lockdown beginning.

On 7 March 2020, they were having a baby shower for their first child. They’ve since brought two boys into the world.

Oscar was born on 31 March 2020 and his brother Chester was conceived just six weeks later and born on 24 February 2021.

Rachel told 5 Live’s Naga Munchetty they wanted two children close together, but "didn’t expect to fall [pregnant again] as quick as we did".

As if two births wasn’t enough, the pair also became engaged during the pandemic.

Scott took a ring and a babygrow which said ‘Mammy, will you marry my Daddy?’ to the hospital after the birth of their first son. Luckily, she said yes!

Listen to 5 Live on the BBC Sounds app.

The gap between the number of Covid-19 vaccines given in rich and poor countries is “becoming more grotesque every day”, the head of the World Health Organization (WHO) says, external.

Research shows most vaccine doses globally have been bought by high-income countries, such as the US, Brazil and the UK.

High-income countries currently hold a confirmed 4.6 billion doses, while low-middle income nations have 670 million, according to research by the Duke Global Health Innovation Center, external.

"The inequitable distribution of vaccines is not just a moral outrage. It's also economically and epidemiologically self-defeating,” the WHO’s director general, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, said on Monday.

Some models predict that it could be years before there are enough vaccines to cover the world's population.

But Thomas Cueni, head of an industry group for pharmaceutical companies, says the scaling up of vaccine production is on track thanks to partnerships among manufacturers in the developing and developed world.

In a statement, he says collaborations are “taking place on a massive scale”.

BBC Radio 5 Live

We've heard today Matt Hancock say the government is considering making vaccines compulsory for care home workers? And we've heard some nurses' leaders talk about the extra burden that might cause the sector, and people's autonomy over what goes into their bodies.

So would it be right?

Jeremy Brown, a professor of respiratory infection at University College London, and a member of the government's Joint Committee for Vaccinations and Immunisation, says he "intrinsically" doesn’t like the idea of making vaccines compulsory for any segment of the population.

"This one is a bit trickier because it really should be part of the duty of care," he says. "All frontline healthcare workers and people that work in care homes need to be vaccinated to protect the people that they’re looking after.

"I do find this tricky, I’m still not keen on the idea of compulsory vaccination," he added.

Listen to the interview here, external or listen to 5 Live on the free BBC Sounds app.

Robert Cuffe
BBC head of statistics

More now on news that the number of weekly excess deaths in the UK has fallen below the five year average for the first time since last August, according to the Office for National Statistics.

In the second week in March, registered Covid deaths fell by a quarter to their lowest levels since October.

But you could argue that these are actually the best figures since the summer.

It’s the first time that we’ve seen fewer deaths than normal since the week of the August bank holiday.

There were 12,465 deaths (for any reason) registered in the UK that week, 5% below the average seen in the same week in the 5 years 2019-2020.

That’s the statistician’s definition of what we’d expect to see.

Admittedly, it’s hard to know what “normal” really is in the second year of a pandemic that has killed more than 100,000 people.

If things truly were back to normal, we would probably be seeing even fewer deaths, and certainly wouldn’t be seeing 1,600 Covid deaths in a week.

But we should take the good news where we can find it.

Image source, Reuters

As we’ve been reporting, Germany will impose an almost complete shutdown over the Easter holidays in response to a third wave of coronavirus infections.

Existing measures, such as the closure of sporting facilities, will remain in place until 18 April.

Then, for five days from 1 April, Germans are being asked to stay at home and reduce contacts:

• In-person religious services are cancelled
• Big family gatherings are banned, with no more than two households, or up to five people, allowed to meet
• All shops are shut, apart from food shops on 3 April

An "emergency brake" will halt further re-openings in areas where infections exceed 100 new cases per 100,000 people over a seven-day period.

BBC Radio 5 Live

Image source, Frank Turner

Singer Frank Turner is among those who are sharing their memories of #LifeBeforeLockdown.

He has shared a photo from his tour bus after performing his last gig in Southend, Essex – a few days before the first UK lockdown on 23 March 2020.

Turner says they were feeling “more and more uneasy” about the situation and during this particular gig, he turned to his guitar technician and said: “This is it - this is the last one.”

“After the gig we all agreed we couldn’t and shouldn’t carry on,” he says.

“It was a really sad moment but we thought it would probably only be for a couple of months. We never thought it would be over a year.”

BBC Radio 5 Live and BBC Breakfast are asking people to share their memories via the hashtag.

Image source, PA Media

There's been a lot of speculation in recent days around whether coronavirus rules on travel will be lifted to allow summer holidays abroad. So what is the timetable for easing restrictions?

The next relaxation of rules in England is on 29 March when people will be allowed to meet outside, either with one other household or within the "rule of six", including in private gardens.

That's when a £5,000 fine for anyone in England trying to travel abroad without good reason is due to come into force next week as part of new coronavirus laws.

The penalty is included in legislation that will be voted on by MPs on Thursday.

April 12 is when the government's travel taskforce will report back on whether foreign travel can resume on that "earliest date" of May 17.

It's also when shops, hairdressers and gyms could reopen and restaurants and pubs could be allowed to serve food and alcohol to customers sitting outdoors. Here's our guide to the roadmap out of lockdown.

Each step is dependent on meeting certain criteria and Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland have their own plans for lifting lockdown.

The weekly coronavirus death figures in England and Wales are at their lowest since October, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS).

A total of 1,501 deaths registered in the week ending 12 March mentioned Covid-19 on the death certificate - the lowest number since the week ending October 30.

The figure is down 29% on the previous week's total, the ONS says.

Around one in seven (13.7%) of all deaths registered in England and Wales in the week to 12 March mentioned Covid-19 on the death certificate.

On Monday the UK recorded 17 deaths, external in the 28 days following a positive coronavirus test. This was the lowest daily death rate since September 2020.