Zürcher Nachrichten - London wall illuminates Covid's enduring pain at Christmas

EUR -
AED 3.823067
AFN 73.044829
ALL 98.563502
AMD 415.895201
ANG 1.874037
AOA 949.259048
ARS 1069.202212
AUD 1.668302
AWG 1.873537
AZN 1.83917
BAM 1.956465
BBD 2.099514
BDT 124.262238
BGN 1.957858
BHD 0.392333
BIF 3074.106551
BMD 1.040854
BND 1.412641
BOB 7.185442
BRL 6.470832
BSD 1.039853
BTN 88.54585
BWP 14.441909
BYN 3.402957
BYR 20400.734368
BZD 2.092411
CAD 1.495342
CDF 2987.249882
CHF 0.936979
CLF 0.037325
CLP 1029.904142
CNY 7.596984
CNH 7.604702
COP 4552.600819
CRC 527.979464
CUC 1.040854
CUP 27.582626
CVE 110.340139
CZK 25.098056
DJF 185.172942
DKK 7.463549
DOP 63.34153
DZD 140.647807
EGP 52.918567
ERN 15.612807
ETB 132.398003
FJD 2.413375
FKP 0.824337
GBP 0.82992
GEL 2.92495
GGP 0.824337
GHS 15.291
GIP 0.824337
GMD 74.941528
GNF 8987.05477
GTQ 8.012687
GYD 217.553948
HKD 8.085035
HNL 26.41998
HRK 7.465946
HTG 135.933555
HUF 411.693074
IDR 16875.362566
ILS 3.799361
IMP 0.824337
INR 88.873562
IQD 1362.16301
IRR 43806.933362
ISK 145.251299
JEP 0.824337
JMD 162.01507
JOD 0.738279
JPY 163.753429
KES 134.394981
KGS 90.554007
KHR 4178.416673
KMF 485.167994
KPW 936.767833
KRW 1517.023168
KWD 0.32077
KYD 0.866595
KZT 538.693106
LAK 22740.72975
LBP 93117.751445
LKR 306.46417
LRD 189.324382
LSL 19.335172
LTL 3.073371
LVL 0.629602
LYD 5.104735
MAD 10.486264
MDL 19.185521
MGA 4904.667134
MKD 61.550922
MMK 3380.652522
MNT 3536.821057
MOP 8.318628
MRU 41.51011
MUR 48.993139
MVR 16.03087
MWK 1803.112892
MXN 21.011455
MYR 4.670284
MZN 66.514439
NAD 19.335172
NGN 1604.621988
NIO 38.263006
NOK 11.81876
NPR 141.621138
NZD 1.843802
OMR 0.400466
PAB 1.039853
PEN 3.872116
PGK 4.220435
PHP 60.985684
PKR 289.4917
PLN 4.261854
PYG 8109.756569
QAR 3.783322
RON 4.979757
RSD 117.008668
RUB 103.961897
RWF 1450.593068
SAR 3.908552
SBD 8.726055
SCR 14.848747
SDG 626.073723
SEK 11.533055
SGD 1.414106
SHP 0.824337
SLE 23.734717
SLL 21826.186791
SOS 594.302008
SRD 36.490207
STD 21543.572066
SVC 9.099093
SYP 2615.176637
SZL 19.343575
THB 35.545453
TJS 11.380187
TMT 3.653397
TND 3.316886
TOP 2.437785
TRY 36.62674
TTD 7.066402
TWD 34.035403
TZS 2518.866428
UAH 43.60062
UGX 3806.293789
USD 1.040854
UYU 46.30153
UZS 13424.563113
VES 53.68216
VND 26463.707719
VUV 123.572247
WST 2.875658
XAF 656.180041
XAG 0.035175
XAU 0.000398
XCD 2.81296
XDR 0.797271
XOF 656.180041
XPF 119.331742
YER 260.603777
ZAR 19.420698
ZMK 9368.931624
ZMW 28.777782
ZWL 335.154497
  • RBGPF

    59.8000

    59.8

    +100%

  • BCC

    0.9500

    123.19

    +0.77%

  • NGG

    -0.1600

    58.86

    -0.27%

  • RIO

    -0.0300

    59.2

    -0.05%

  • BCE

    0.0600

    22.9

    +0.26%

  • SCS

    0.0800

    11.73

    +0.68%

  • RELX

    0.3000

    45.89

    +0.65%

  • RYCEF

    -0.0100

    7.24

    -0.14%

  • CMSC

    -0.1321

    23.77

    -0.56%

  • CMSD

    0.1000

    23.65

    +0.42%

  • JRI

    0.0500

    12.15

    +0.41%

  • VOD

    0.0600

    8.43

    +0.71%

  • BTI

    0.0400

    36.26

    +0.11%

  • GSK

    -0.0300

    34.03

    -0.09%

  • AZN

    -0.3300

    66.3

    -0.5%

  • BP

    0.0400

    28.79

    +0.14%

London wall illuminates Covid's enduring pain at Christmas
London wall illuminates Covid's enduring pain at Christmas / Photo: BENJAMIN CREMEL - AFP

London wall illuminates Covid's enduring pain at Christmas

UK families of some 240,000 people who died from Covid-19 have hung festive lights on a London wall, a symbol of love, anger and pain ahead of another Christmas overshadowed by loss.

Text size:

As the fifth anniversary of the global pandemic approaches, emotions still run raw across the UK amid lingering accusations that the then government responded too slowly to the crisis.

Some 240,000 hearts have been painted by hand on the wall, nestled on the banks of the Thames, opposite the British parliament.

Each heart on the 500-metre-long (540-yard) wall represents one of the UK victims of the disease, which shattered and disrupted lives around the globe after being first detected in China in December 2019.

"We put up lights every Christmas, just as a way to reflect and remember those people who are not with us," said Kirsten Hackman, 58, whose mother died from Covid in May 2020.

"For many of us, there is that empty place at the table this Christmas," she added.

The wall is a collective "therapy session," say volunteers.

Since 2019 more than seven million people have been reported to have died from Covid worldwide, according to the World Health Organization. But the true toll is believed to be much higher.

Thousands of messages written on the hearts on the London wall reveal the depth of the emotional toll and scars left by the pandemic on UK lives.

"Mamy, love you forever," reads one, while another says: "Phil, always in my heart".

The remembrance wall was originally meant to be temporary, and was constructed without permission in March 2021 in protest at then prime minister Boris Johnson's handling of the pandemic.

He faced accusations of being too slow to recognise Covid's threat and then taking too long to lock down the country to try to prevent the spread of the highly infectious disease.

The wall is an "outpouring of love, anger, rage", Lorelei King, whose husband died of Covid in March 2020, told AFP.

The 71-year-old is part of the "Friends of the Wall" group, a dozen volunteers who come every Friday to clean the monument, repaint the rain-washed hearts and rewrite the messages.

"It's quite meditative", she said.

The group continues to draw new hearts as Covid claims new lives.

- Wall 'comforts me' -

But on the Friday before Christmas, the volunteers met for another, more joyful mission: to hang lights along the wall.

They illuminated them on Monday, and the decorations will remain in place until the beginning of January.

Nearly five years after the start of the pandemic, the pain remains the same, said King, adding she was one of many who had not been able to grieve properly.

"We weren't able to have a real funeral," due to lockdown rules, she explained, referring to the severe restrictions put in place on visiting loved ones in their dying hours, and then from holding large gatherings to mourn their loss.

Instead, she focuses her energy on the wall. "It comforts me. And I don't want the people we care about to be forgotten," said King.

"We are all in the same boat", added Michelle Rumball, 53, whose mother died of Covid in April 2020.

She was there on the first day that some hearts were painted, following a social media call by activist group Led By Donkeys.

Over the next 10 days, hundreds of people who had lost loved ones showed up to add their tribute, despite risking arrest for damaging a listed wall.

"I was very angry at that time. It was a demonstration," recalled Rumball.

The group is in discussions with the authorities to make the wall, whose upkeep depends on donations, "permanent" and officially recognised, meaning it could be better protected.

And a few days before Christmas, they had a "very positive" meeting, King said.

According to the WHO, more than 232,000 people have died with Covid in the United Kingdom. By comparison, there have been around 168,000 deaths in France.

L.Muratori--NZN