Herald photographer Malcolm Wells was in the town on Saturday, February 29, 2020, as news of the case broke.
Malcolm was covering a Haslemere Farmers’ Market charity breakfast at the Hunter Centre – which was cancelled – and afterwards taking a photo of Neighbourhood Plan volunteers at the town hall.
Two years on, Malcolm has shared his memories of the day.
He said: “The night before I heard on the national news a virus had been detected by a doctor in a surgery in the south of England. As I was en-route to the Hunter Centre, I was alerted to news reports on the car radio of the presence of ‘a virus’ with the now added detail that it was detected at a surgery in Haslemere.
“After walking to the Hunter Centre, I was surprised to see the door locked with a notice saying ‘Breakfast Cancelled’, counter-signed by two people.
“A very pleasant gentleman approached the locked door and politely explained to me they had decided the event should not proceed to avoid people making unnecessary contact with others.
“I then came across the Haslemere Health Centre and the adjoining pharmacy. I recalled that very name being mentioned in the news bulletins, so I took a few photographs from public land.
“Within a few minutes the first TV crew arrived beside me, promptly followed by another.
“I stopped off at Oliver’s Coffee for a cuppa, where already by mid-morning the majority of the customers were aware of the ‘alert’ being apportioned to Haslemere, as were the very pleasant staff too. The matter of ‘the virus’ was also discussed by those good people gathered at the Haslemere Town Hall, who were already taking care of what they did and how.”
Former Haslemere mayor Cllr John Robini remembers the day well, and said the community soon rallied together.
“It came as a bit of a shock that somebody in Haslemere had Covid – we didn’t know who it was or where they were,” he said. “The first thing we did was appeal locally for help, and we got a huge appetite.
“The town council set up an information centre, and used social media and leaflets.
“We wanted to make sure help went where it was needed.
“We also set up anonymous food stalls, and worked with the town’s existing food bank. It was a fantastic local effort.”