'Reporting Coronavirus' at ITV News West Country
Watch 'Reporting Coronavirus' here
2020 will be remembered as a year of unprecedented loss, upheaval and suffering.
The coronavirus pandemic forced the world into lockdown and we are yet to return to the way life was before.
Despite the extraordinary hardship, we have seen the best of our West Country communities and the lengths people will go to help one another.
As journalists, the news teams at ITV have been on air throughout 2020, bearing witness to these events on an international, national and local level.
Every day we have helped our viewers digest the latest information about the pandemic, understand lifesaving public health messages and hold power to account when necessary.
But most of all, ITV has continued to tell extraordinary stories of sorrow, courage and recovery.In a special film to be broadcast on Wednesday 16 December we will look back at some of the remarkable stories covered nationally and locally at ITV News West Country.
Our region is full of people doing incredible things, and this year they have taken centre stage, at a time when people have needed community spirit more than ever before.
While we were reporting on the opening of the Nightingale Hospitals in Bristol and Exeter, we were also celebrating our NHS heroes and speaking to those whose lives they saved.
Watch: the moment coronavirus survivor Rob Thomas was reunited with his wife
Many of the memorable moments from the past year are the emotional reunions had by family members and coronavirus survivors.
Rob Thomas, a husband and father from Gloucestershire, was told he would likely die in hospital after contracting Covid-19.
We followed his journey and got to see the moment he saw his wife again for the first time.
In a region so geographically diverse, we responded to the challenges being faced by our viewers in rural areas and those in urban ones too.
ITV News West Country's Somerset correspondent, Ben McGrail, said: "Initially when everything kicked off in March, you really felt that anxiety coming across from people and just that uncertainty of not knowing what was going to happen."
One of the many communities we visited during the height of the pandemic was Porlock.
Known for its community spirit, Ben was not surprised to see local residents united in their response to the uncertainties of a life with Covid-19.
After setting up a community helpline to support those affected, 120 people came forward in the village who wanted to volunteer their time.
Ben said: "There was a real community spirit there, to support each other, to help each other out.
"It was our role to tell those sorts of stories, to show that yes it's very difficult, but people were putting so much effort in to trying to help each other."
You can watch 'Reporting Coronavirus' on Wednesday 16 December at 11pm on ITV.
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