Three years ago today (Thursday March 23), Prime Minister Boris Johnson announced the beginning of lockdown restrictions across the UK mirroring the rest of the world as Covid-19 took hold and all of our lives changed.

230 people from Fermanagh and Omagh have died of Covid-19 since the pandemic began three years ago, according to the latest statistics from the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency (NISRA).

The data shows that Covid-19 (and suspected Covid-19) was mentioned on the death certificate of 230 people from the records which began on the week ending March 20, 2020.

In addition, the data shows that 5,198 people in Northern Ireland have died of Covid-19 since the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic and there are still people dying as a result of Covid-19 right across Northern Ireland.

Mass testing has stopped and testing kits are no longer free, mass vaccination against Covid-19 continues but a new announcement from the PHA (Public Health Agency) shows that will come to an end in favour of a targeted approach.

PHA is urging those yet to get a Covid-19 first and second dose to get one before the offer ends on June 30.

Rachel Spiers, Immunisation and Vaccination Programme Manager at the PHA, commented: “The Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI) has advised that the first and second dose offer for healthy people under the age of 50 should end on June 30 in favour of a more targeted approach in 2023/24.