Bereaved families are creating a vast memorial for the lives lost to the coronavirus near the Houses of Parliament in London.
A red heart is being painted for each of the 145,000 people who have died of Covid-19 in the UK.
The group behind the mural hopes to put the personal stories of victims at the heart of the government’s approach to learning lessons from the pandemic.
“This is an outpouring of love,” said Matt Fowler, co-founder of Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice, who lost his father Ian, 56, to the virus.
“Each heart is individually hand-painted – utterly unique, just like the loved ones we have lost. And like the scale of our collective loss, this memorial is going to be enormous.
“We think it will take several days to complete and it’s going to stretch for more than half a kilometre. We know not everyone can come down here to see it, but we really hope this can become a focal point for remembering this national tragedy.
“We have placed it at the heart of our capital so that the government never loses sight of the personal stories at the heart of all this.”
Bereaved family members and volunteers began work on Monday, with those creating the art staying socially distanced in groups of no more than six people for each section of the wall.
The mural is on the south bank of the River Thames, near St Thomas’s Hospital, where Prime Minster Boris Johnson received his Covid-19 vaccination.
On Monday, people in England were taking the first steps to easing the most recent lockdown restrictions.
For the first time in more than three months, people in groups of six, or two household households, are allowed to meet outside.
Mr Johnson urged the public to remain cautious as new variants of coronavirus still posed a threat.
“I know many will welcome the increased social contact, with groups of six or two households also able to meet outdoors. But we must remain cautious, with cases rising across Europe and new variants threatening our vaccine roll-out,” he said.
