NO one could have predicted what has happened in the last 12 months.

Not even when coronavirus first arrived in Essex on March 1, 2020, did anyone really have an idea of the scale of what was to come.

Today marks exactly one year since the first national lockdown restrictions came into force.

The 12 months which have followed have seen our lives change almost beyond recognition.

In those 12 months there have been more than 11,000 confirmed cases of the virus in Colchester.

Tragically, there have been 390 deaths from the condition too.

Through such tough circumstances difficult decisions affecting the lives and livelihoods of residents have had to be made on a regular basis.

Two of the people making those decisions are Essex County Council's health boss John Spence and Essex's Director of Public Health Mike Gogarty.

Mr Spence said: "The past year has been unprecedented and nobody could have predicted it.

"This time a year ago you'd have expected everything to be sorted by now if you believed social media.

"But we took it seriously and went through the first lockdown period where a lot was learned about how to respond."

The first lockdown started on March 23, 2020, and continued through to June.

There was hopes the warmer months would help Britain turn the tide against the virus, but unfortunately this proved a false dawn.

By October Covid rates in Essex, and across in many parts of Britain, were skyrocketing.

So County Hall bosses made the decision to request Essex be moved into Tier Two of the Government new Covid rules system.

The move, which meant businesses would have to close again, was extremely controversial.

But six months on, both Mr Spence and Mr Gogarty agree it was the right move.

Mr Gogarty said: "From a public health point of view Essex absolutely did the right thing."

The move was backed by all parties on the council and Mr Spence said political consensus was essential.

"Mike had always said to expect the second wave," he said.

"We set out to get on top of it which is why we were the only authority in the country to move voluntarily into Tier Two.

"He said to me we had to do something and I went to my cabinet colleagues. It took two meeting to convince them.

"We then sought to get a united leadership across the council.

"After that we went to the district councils and they were behind us too.

"In my opinion the single most important achievement was this united leadership."

He added: "It was working but then the country went into lockdown again."

The second national lockdown started on November 5.

It was initiated due to concerns over a rise in transmission of coronavirus across the country.

It lasted four weeks, but after the rules were again relaxed in December most of Essex entered Tier 4, the strictest of Government restrictions, on December 19.

Around this time, Mr Spence says Essex was in "the eye of the storm" due to the new Kent variant of Covid.

After the Christmas holidays, the decision was made to keep schools in the three Tier Two parts of the county closed.

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Mr Gogarty said: "We made the decision not to send pupils back in Colchester, Tendring and Uttlesford and a day or two later the Government moved to close them across the country."

On January 6 the third national lockdown started, which we are still under today.

The first stage of lockdown being lifted saw schools return on March 8, with further restrictions to be relaxed in the coming weeks.

But both Mr Gogarty and Mr Spence believe we have a long way to go in our fight against Covid.

Mr Gogarty said: "It is important to stress this is not the end of things and people really need to continue to be as careful as possible.

"Covid isn't going to go anywhere. As restrictions are eased infections will rise and there is a danger of another wave.

"It is three times more infectious than flu and it will seize any opportunity we give it.

"The main worry would be a variant or side step which is vaccine resistant."

Mr Spence added: "The best friend of Covid is complacency.

"One of the key things I have learned over the past year is never predict with Covid.

"I am hopeful it is the last lockdown but I could not be confident."

Both men were full of praise for residents of Essex, who they say had sacrificed so much for the greater good.

Mr Gogarty said: "The evidence is clear - the people of Essex have responded fantastically.

"This is shown by the decline in rates we have seen recently.

"We are at a position where hopefully this week I will be able to tell members we have the lowest rates in the east of England, which we have never said before. That is down to the people of Essex."

And Mr Spence is confident the county can recover.

He said: "If you spend your whole life building up your business I can understand the pain lockdowns have caused.

"I am very proud of the discipline 95 per cent of people have displayed throughout the pandemic.

"We are financially more prudent than other places and there is more money there to invest and help businesses to grow."

He added: "I think we will see a strong return and we are as best placed as anybody to recover."