More than five million people visited KentOnline in March as the coronavirus pandemic led to unimaginable changes to the way we live our lives.

The March audience was the highest we have experienced, and we take our role as Kent's leading news provider seriously. We are committed to reporting on the pandemic accurately and avoiding sensationalisation.

As the month began, coronavirus was already headline news as we covered the story of pupils from Homewood School in Tenterden being asked to stay away from lessons after returning from a trip to Italy.

KentOnline reporters were among the first on the scene at the Maidstone Studios when news of Kent's first confirmed coronavirus case hit the headlines on March 3.

Shortly after the county's first pupil was diagnosed with Covid-19, KentOnline sought to verify rumours abounding in the Ashford borough about a case at the town's Designer Outlet.

Interest built rapidly through the month as coronavirus touched every aspect of our lives, with schools closed, hospitals under strain and most people working from home.

As well as KentOnline, there are numerous other ways we are keeping you in touch with the most up to date stories.

You can listen to our kmfm news bulletins whenever you want by enabling the kmfm skill in Alexa or other smart speakers or downloading the kmfm app. Online listening to the radio station has increased 36%.

Our email alerts - covering news, business and what's on - reach tens of thousands of people every day. You can sign up for those here.

Our innovative app - IM News - provides rolling news coverage and also access to ALL KM Group newspapers in our portfolio in digital format.

We have temporarily made the app free of charge as we recognise many readers may not be able to access their newspapers. You can find out more about downloading IM News for free here.

And our local TV station, KMTV, has seen record audiences of 160,000 per week as our team continue to broadcast despite the enforced closure of the studio. Find out how to tune in here.

Ian Carter, editorial director of KentOnline's parent company Iliffe Media, said: "It's been a challenging period for our teams, with most people working from home, but we are committed to our reporting of the coronavirus pandemic.

"We also recognise that people want to read about issues other than coronavirus, so are working hard to provide a balance of news - along with advice on how to keep sane and entertained."

Read more: All the latest news from Kent

For the latest coronavirus news and advice, click here.

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