We revealed how the traffic camera at the junction of Watson’s Walk and London Road had snapped 1,325 cars in 2019, that a fundamentalist sex education leaflet was being distributed in the city, welcomed the return of the annual St Albans pancake race, and revealed how almost 200 children across the district were left without a secondary school place. Then the first case of coronavirus was reported at Harpenden’s Davenport House Surgery, and what had seemed like a distant threat was suddenly on our doorstep. ‘Keep calm, clean and carry on...’ was the headline on March 12, referring to plans for city centre businesses to receive donations of hand sanitiser to ensure local shopping continues in the event of a coronavirus outbreak. The county’s response to the virus began stepping up following the news that a patient receiving treatment from West Herts Hospitals NHS Trust had died, and the Bishop of St Albans offered his own four golden rules to consider alongside official public health advice.