Fascinating video from 60 years ago shows how Hull was almost put into lockdown long before Covid-19

Fyfe Robertson visited Hull where a polio outbreak prompted questions about quarantining for the public. (Credit: BBC)

The show - presented by Fyfe Robertson and aired on October 23, 1961 - looks at an outbreak of polio in the city which saw almost 50 people contract the disease.

Concerns were raised when 25 people has been diagnosed with polio, which is described in the video as approaching an 'epidemic'.

Mr Robertson says he has spoken to people from the city who called for a quarantine in Hull similar to the lockdowns we've seen all over the world in the last year, which would have led to public spaces being closed.

He also described Hull as 'a beleagured city and a place to be avoided', adding that football clubs had cancelled fixtures in the city and there there had been reports of salesmen from Hull being refused admission by clients.

This year has seen the incredible work of the NHS in vaccinating millions of people in a short amount of time to get the country back on its feet. But the speed of a vaccine rollout was almost as impressive 60 years ago.

The four-minute clip shows how the local health services managed to vaccinate 78,000 people in a single day.

The video has been released by the BBC as part of its local news partnerships program.