This week marks the two year anniversary of the first Covid restrictions in Ireland and the moment the world, as we knew it, changed forever.
In a matter of days, many people had transitioned from daily commuting to working from home and we soon became familiar with strange terms such as ‘lockdown’, ‘social distancing’ and ‘cocooning’.
A wave of panic buying also saw supermarket shelves emptied and toilet roll became a rare commodity.
Here, we take a look back at everything that happened on Thursday, March 12, 2020, when then Taoiseach Leo Varadkar, who was out of the country on a trip to the US, made his sombre address to the nation.
Taoiseach's address to the nation
On March 12, 2020, Mr Varadkar delivered his first pandemic address to the nation shortly before midday where he told the country from Washington: “I need to speak to you about coronavirus.”
He announced that schools, colleges and childcare facilities would not be opening the next day and would be closed for two weeks, until March 29.
In his speech, the Taoiseach said we have not witnessed a pandemic of this nature in living memory. He warned that many people would get sick with the virus and some people would die.
How many Covid cases at the time?
The the first Irish death from Covid-19 was announced the night before the Taoiseach’s address, on March 11, 2020.
There were 27 new cases of Covid-19 reported on March 12, 2020, and in total there were 70 cases in the Republic of Ireland at the time.
What were the initial Covid rules?
The first restrictions introduced from 6pm on March 12 were only supposed to be in place for a fortnight - until March 29.
Schools, colleges and childcare facilities closed
Museums, galleries and tourist sites closed
100 people max at an indoor event
500 people max at an outdoor event
Shops and restaurants were initially allowed to stay open - two days later, pubs were shut
Work remotely, if possible
People were asked to reduce the amount of socialising
St Patrick’s Day parades across the country had already been cancelled
Panic buying
The Taoiseach's address sparked a wave of panic buying set in as people rushed to the supermarkets to stock up as coronavirus fears gripped the nation.
Shoppers cleared the shelves of toilet roll, fruit and veg and pasta and long queues formed at checkouts.
One customer at Tesco in Liffey Valley, in Dublin, told the Irish Mirror that shoppers were abusing staff as people were filling their trolleys.
She said: "It's absolutely crazy. People are going crazy and just grabbing stuff off the shelves, anything. (The) poor staff are being verbally abused because a lot of stuff is gone. People are panicking."
