Amanda Barrie, 84, shares her fears about coronavirus

Former Coronation Street actress Amanda Barrie has shared her fears about coronavirus, admitting she’s never experienced a crisis on this scale before.

In a new interview, the soap star, 84, who lived through World War II, said seeking shelter from bombs ‘doesn’t even come close’ to the COVID-19 pandemic, which has claimed 2,352 lives in the UK alone.

The stage and TV thespian revealed she’s currently in self-isolation with her wife Hilary Bonner, 71, at their countryside home, and highlighted that she feels ‘lucky’ as their surroundings haven’t changed since the global disaster. 

‘All the trivial normalities of my life, like everybody else’s, have suddenly disappeared’, Amanda told The Mirror. ‘Surely nothing in history has ever moved as fast or disrupted lives so swiftly as the coronavirus.’

The Carry On actress insisted the disease is in a league of its own, despite surviving the Second World War.

She shared: ‘I’m an old chorus girl and a wartime babe. My childhood memories include being buried in an avalanche of black-market tinned peas while sheltering from bombs under the cellar stairs. Nothing, nothing, comes close to this. 

‘It isn’t easy for any of us. And I’m acutely aware of how lucky I am. We have a house in the country with a big garden. We have space and fresh air. We look out at a landscape that hasn’t changed in this time of crisis.’

The blonde said she’s happily adjusted to life in the countryside after spending the majority of her life in London’s Covent Garden. 

Their quarantine routine sees Hilary and Amanda – who revealed she hasn’t been able to colour her hair since the nationwide lockdown – dress up for drinks at home a few times a week and catch-up with old friends and family over the phone. 

Last week, UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson ordered the immediate closure of all non-essential shops and threatened people with fines or even arrest if they do not ‘stay at home’. 

The shutdown will last for a minimum of three weeks and the UK’s new state of emergency is unprecedented in modern history.

Gatherings of more than two people will be banned in the most dramatic curbs on freedom ever seen in Britain in time of peace or war, as the government goes all out to stop the spread of the killer disease.