The National COVID Memorial Wall on a half-kilometer stretch of the Albert Embankment is dedicated to those who died, with each life lost represented by a carefully painted heart that volunteers freshen up on a weekly basis with long-lasting masonry paints. For the volunteers, it's a bit like art therapy — meditative. Incredibly it took less than two weeks for the army of volunteers to paint the 150,000 or so hearts. The government has yet to give the wall official status, though Prime Minister Boris Johnson told bereaved families, including Hall herself, recently that it is a “good candidate” to be a permanent memorial. However, the bereaved families think that’s too late and watch with horror the U.K.'s rising infection levels, which are running several-fold more than countries like France and Germany.

Source: ABC News October 30, 2021 23:34 UTC