Editor: This is a moment in history and must be remembered

Where will the names of the hundreds of Sheffielders who have been killed by Covid-19 be recorded and how will historians translate what happened? Will the spin being put forward by politicians cut through and how will anti-vaxxers be viewed?

More importantly, where will the families of those who have died be able to go to reflect on a time quite unlike any that we remember? Nowhere, as you’ll read on Page 23. There are several memorials in this city which serve a very important purpose and have very special places in our united heart.

They remind us of bad times but also that famous community spirit that kicks in when things are tough.

They offer a quiet place for contemplation of loss at an individual level as well as standing testament to what Sheffield went through collectively.

The good memorials make you proud and break out in a smile that those who have gone are still rightly remembered, and fondly so. They warm the hearts of those who didn’t live through that period and don’t have any personal connection to it.

Will Sheffield just forget when this pandemic is history? More importantly, shouldn’t there be something poignant we can do to show that we care about the hundreds of Sheffielders who have gone? And what about those who died, not of Covid but alone because the havoc it has caused stopped their loved ones being at their side. Don’t get me started on what a tribute it could be to our health and emergency workers who have given their all and made sacrifices beyond what we can imagine.

It cannot be allowed to go unrecognised and forgotten.

Councils across the country unveiled their Covid memorial plans more than a year ago and many are now being enjoyed by the public.

There have been scores of overly complicated debates and action plans around this in Sheffield and yet here we are – with absolutely nothing to show. I’m sick of talking and consultations because we aren’t seeing results. It doesn’t have to be expensive but it does need to be soon. Enough excuses – if other places can do it, why can’t the fourth biggest city?