06-02-2025
Five years after we were 'punished', Greater Manchester is being asked 'what happened to you during Covid?'
Five years on from the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, people in Greater Manchester are being asked to share what happened to them. In March 2020, millions of people across the country watched Boris Johnson announcing the first national lockdown.
Then, millions were united in grief, suffering through the deaths of their loved ones, or themselves battling a disease that would cast a long shadow on their health all these years later.
By autumn of 2020, Greater Manchester was united in fury as the region was not only thrust into the toughest restrictions in the country, but penalised for having a voice following a stand-off with the government.
READ MORE: Waiting in the toilets at Manchester Airport, a gang of Americans thought they were about to make a lot of money
READ MORE: Man tragically found dead in river almost two months after major search commenced is named
The UK Covid-19 Inquiry has heard from around 54,000 people across the UK, exploring the deep human impact of the pandemic. From tomorrow (Thursday), the inquiry will be in the city for two days, giving the people of Manchester their turn to finally share their stories.
'We really want to hear from as many people as possible about their pandemic story,' Kate Eisenstein, the inquiry's deputy secretary, told the Manchester Evening News. 'We know that different people in communities across the UK and in different parts of the Greater Manchester and the north west, experienced the pandemic in different ways – whether they were a frontline health or social care worker, whether they were homeschooling their kids, whether they were shielding and feeling isolated from friends and family.
'The Covid inquiry has two goals. The first is, establish the facts of what happened during the pandemic. The second is to make findings and recommendations that will help the UK be better prepared for the next pandemic because, unfortunately, it is likely there will be another pandemic we just don't know when.'
Greater Manchester has been disproportionately affected by Covid-19. The north west, particularly parts of Greater Manchester, was already suffering some of the worst health in the whole country because of higher deprivation, higher pollution, poorer housing, and fewer job opportunities.
The pandemic only served to sharpen those inequalities with the rest of the UK, with scores going to hospital with severe coronavirus, some of the highest infection rates in the country, and major pressures on the NHS in the years after.
'There has been a real range of perspectives shared,' said Ms Eisenstein. 'Most of them are quite personal experiences. We frequently hear about some very positive things like I learned a new hobby, I had more time with my family, there were some stresses which slipped away. But we also hear about really challenging personal or community circumstances, mental health worries, fear about job security, feeling socially isolated.
'Here in Manchester, it'll be interesting to hear if people living in the more rural areas of Saddleworth had a different experience to people working in the city center or frontline workers, working in some of the south Manchester hospitals.'
'One of the things that I'm looking forward to hearing here in Manchester and Greater Manchester might be about people who were students in one of the Manchester or Salford universities at the time, who might have felt they missed out on a typical university experience,' continued Ms Eisenstein. 'Contrasting with perhaps older people who might have been living on their own and feeling isolated from friends and family who might normally provide them with support.
'All the way through to people running care homes, who were constantly in contact with other people, but worried about their own safety and the safety of the residents that they were supporting, and having to make judgments every day about how they do that during a changing and scary situation.'
There were also the political revelations that set the region apart. Bombshell moments at Covid Inquiry hearings in 2023 exposed how government committee was told that Greater Manchester deserved a 'punishment beating' with tougher Covid restrictions because of Andy Burnham's 'appalling behaviour' during the Tier 3 stand-off in autumn 2020
The Greater Manchester mayor told the inquiry how ministers made an example of the region for taking a stand as Tier 3 restrictions were forced upon it – despite local leaders arguing there was not enough financial support available. He told the inquiry of suggestions Lancashire should have a lighter set of measures than Greater Manchester because they 'showed a willingness to cooperate'.
The stand-off between Mr Burnham and the government over how much money Greater Manchester would get to support workers affected by the tougher Tier 3 restrictions came to a head on October 20, 2020. The mayor found out during a press conference outside Bridgewater Hall that a decision had been made by the government despite failing to reach an agreement with local leaders.
Mr Burnham told the inquiry: "It just felt that we were treated in a way that other parts of the country were treated. There is no way that a borough in Greater London would have been treated in the way Bolton was."
There are some people who never want to revisit the pandemic. But those leading the inquiry say it can be 'cathartic'.
Ms Eisenstein said: 'Here in Manchester, there were particular local and regional circumstances like the Tier 3 restrictions; a big younger population due to the universities; people are very connected across the 10 boroughs of the city-region; such a mixed economy of people in roles who would normally be office based, but also people who are having to continue their front line roles in health care or transport or in manufacturing.
'It will be really interesting to see if those local considerations and how people felt about how they and their community across Greater Manchester were treated, and whether they did feel there were particular local circumstances or local experiences that they think the inquiry should know about.'
Every Story Matters event is a 'safe, confidential space' where, if people become distressed, there are 'trained people on site to support'.
The inquiry will be visiting on Thursday 6 and Friday 7 February and will be at Manchester Town Hall Extension, next to Central Library, on both days from 10.30am until 5.30pm. Members of the public will be able to speak to inquiry staff to find out more about Every Story Matters and share their experience of the pandemic in person, online or using a paper form. Counsellors will also be present to provide emotional support for those who may need it.
'For those who do come down to see us in person, you can either sit with us and fill in a form on your own or with some assistance,' explains Ms Eisenstein. 'Or if you'd rather sit and actually talk to someone who will help record your story in writing, then we can do that.
'We do recognise that sometimes it can be upsetting or distressing to remember what happens during the pandemic, and that's completely normal. We're looking for a whole range of stories, big or small. Something that might seem like a small experience to you is really important for the inquiry to hear.
'It could be something like a parent remembering a particular toy that their child sought comfort in, to somebody talking to us about their worries that they'd lose their business, to somebody who experienced a really difficult bereavement, to somebody recalling how actually they took up knitting or crochet because they had a bit more time whilst they were furloughed from work.
'There is no right or wrong story for people to share. This is about us understanding as many stories as we can possibly hear.'
