March 2025 is the fifth anniversary of the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Nursing staff were at heightened risk of coronavirus infection through occupational exposure and more than 3,400 lost their lives worldwide. A timeline of events, starting with the outbreak on the pandemic, traces the key UK public health responses. UK nurses who died with COVID-19 are remembered, although many more nursing staff than those named here lost their lives. The impact of long-COVID is described, and the UK COVID-19 Inquiry’s aims are summarised