Swindon’s health boss has thanked the community for their ‘amazing’ efforts during the pandemic.

Director of public health Steve Maddern joined the council in early April as the town started to record its first Covid cases.

He said: “Today is the first year anniversary of our first Covid case in Swindon, and it’s not even my first year anniversary.

“In a month time when I joined, we had gone from having a single case to having 177 cases and 51 deaths – so, it just shows how rapidly the pandemic spread locally.”

Mr Maddern has since held regular Facebook Q&As and press briefings.

He added: “It’s been an intense year, but it shows amazing efforts from professionals and residents and whatever everybody has done to protect themselves and each other.

“We’ve seen a Covid spirit across the last year, particularly amongst our community, I think our community stepped up incredibly well and we probably haven’t seen it since the war, so it’s fantastic to see.

“For me, it’s an opportunity to thank everyone for everything that they have done particularly across the challenging year.”

He said those efforts will help build the foundation for recovery.

Nearly a year ago, Mr Maddern said in one of his media briefings that the town and the world were “fighting a war against an enemy that we cannot see”.

He said: “I think we are still fighting that war. The road is hopeful, but we still need people to be compliant with the rules and the guidelines to make the dates in that map a reality.”