When China first began reporting cases of a new respiratory disease at the end of December 2019, it barely made headlines in the UK.
It wasn't until the mystery virus crossed into other countries in mid-January that the world really started to take notice. Even then, the idea that Covid-19, a new strain of coronavirus, would be ruling all of our daily lives here in Greater Manchester within just a few months would not have occurred to many.
But then the number of cases and deaths started multiplying at an alarming rate. As of April 1, there have been more than 882,000 cases reported in more than 200 countries around the world, causing an estimated 43,000 deaths.