Watch: The grim week in Sunderland before lockdown began
It was a time of great uncertainty.
Coronavirus - as we mainly referred to it at the time - was spreading across the world.
Sunderland had seen its first recorded case of Covid-19 in early March 2020.
By March 10, Hays Travel was already asking staff to take voluntary leave as the crisis swiftly escalated.
The first North East death as a result of the pandemic was recorded on March 16.
Sunderland's Nissan plant suspended production on the 17th.
The next day, the Sunderland Echo was speaking to business owners - and a priest - in Sunderland city centre.
The first lockdown would be announced at the end of that week - watch to remember what the mood was in the days before.