IF anyone was in any doubt, March was the month when the seriousness of the Covid-19 outbreak really hit home.

The news was dominated by coronavirus as dozens of patients were admitted to Musgrove Park Hospital with the disease.

Among those who didn't make it was 65-year-old engineer David Harris, from Wellington.

In a heart-rending interview, his fiancee Trace Weisner told how helpless she felt as his life slipped away.

She was unable to visit him but his sent a last telling her, "I love you."

Creech St Michael father-of-four Danny Trump's family had been told to prepare for the worse as he lay seriously ill on a ventilator in Musgrove.

He defied the odds and survived and his family was full of praise for the amazing care he received from NHS staff. His message was: "Don't give up."

There were fears at one stage that Musgrove could be overwhelmed with patients and a makeshift Nightingale hospital was opened in Bristol just in case.

Taunton turned into a ghost town as lockdown came into being, with non essential shops and schools all closed, while a Covid testing centre was set up at Bridgwater and Taunton College.

Staplegrove doctor Josh Cadman and his fiancee Ruth Blessed were temporarily stranded in Peru as Brits rushed to get home.

The crisis brought out the best in individuals and the community.

Trull nurse Mary Munro headed to America to help care for people marooned in a ship off the coast of Miami.

People organised fundraising events to help struggling communities.

The response to a County Gazette appeal to support the Love Musgrove Covid-19 Aid initiative was overwhelming.

Foodbanks rallied to the cause to help feed families unable to work.