'Covid lockdown was very lonely in my care home'
If you visit Pembroke House in Kent, you'll see a lively care home with residents playing games, drinking coffee and chatting.
But Sheila Hayward - the only remaining resident to have lived through the Covid-19 pandemic at the care home - said she will never take this for granted.
Five years on, Ms Hayward remembers how residents in the Gillingham care home were kept isolated from others and even served meals in their room.
She said: "We were not allowed to go out at all - it was very lonely."
Ms Hayward had already been living at the care home for 18 months when the Covid-19 pandemic hit the UK in March 2020.
The strict measures succeeded in keeping Covid infections at bay for several months.
But Ms Hayward said it took a toll on her mental wellbeing.
"I missed my hobbies," she said. "I was very active at that time and I loved walking in the garden."
After several months, she was allowed to spend time outside, supervised from a distance by carers.
Ms Hayward said she and other residents used to stand at the doorway of their rooms, shouting to each other down the corridors.
"It was very difficult," she said.
Kelly Kirtley, Pembroke House residents, events and hospitality officer, said the care home suffered a Covid outbreak in December 2020, with 33 residents and most staff members ill.
She said most residents were terrified when they learned they had the virus.
"You couldn't comfort them, or give them a hug and tell them everything would be okay," Ms Kirtley said.
"There are no visitors so you become the residents' family."
Four residents at the Medway care home lost their lives to COVID.
They are remembered by a memorial statue in the gardens of Pembroke House.
Follow BBC Kent on Facebook, on X, and on Instagram. Send your story ideas to southeasttoday@bbc.co.uk or WhatsApp us on 08081 002250.
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