Post Desk : For London it began on March 6. The first confirmed death in the capital from the Coronavirus virus that has wreaked such havoc over the past year was an elderly man admitted to the Royal London in Whitechapel with breathing difficulties.

Our city has been on the frontline in the monumental struggle against the pandemic ever since with both the first and second wave ripping through homes, hospitals and the care sector earlier and faster than the rest of the country.

Of the grim tally of 100,000 UK deaths passed yesterday, 12,677 have been in London.

The capital’s death rate of almost 200 per 100,000 population from March to December is considerably higher than the 150 level for England as a whole.

So why has the UK – and London in particular – been so appallingly badly hit by a disease that has results in death tolls in the dozens or low hundreds in many other countries?

With hindsight London was always a vulnerable target. The capital is arguably the greatest global crossroads, its biggest aviation hub, home to more international students than virtually any other metropolis. More Britons take international flights than the population of any other country. London is not Wellington or Auckland.

The virus took hold just after the February half term when thousands of Londoners packed into bars and restaurants in the Alps in one of the worst superspreader events of the whole pandemic.

Knowing that perhaps it was even more important that borders were shut early and hard to limit the volume of carriers coming into the country as many medical experts demanded. But they were not. Chaotic messages ensued. Holidays were on; now travel corridors were the thing instead.

For parents and for carers who spent so many months juggling their day jobs, not only with home schooling but meeting the myriad other demands of their children from breakfast until bedtime.”

He said they will work with parents, teachers and schools so that pupils can make up their learning over the course of this parliament.

Reacting to the announcement, Geoff Barton, general secretary of the Association of School and College Leaders, said: “What is crucial is that the government ensures that full reopening is done in a way which is safe and sustainable, and which inspires the confidence of education staff and the public.

Dr Patrick Roach, general secretary of the NASUWT-The Teachers’ Union, said: “Given previous experience, the announcement of arbitrary dates for schools to reopen to all pupils can be profoundly unhelpful to parents and to those working in schools.

“However, a clear plan for how schools will be fully reopened whenever the lockdown restrictions are lifted remains a key question which the Government must now work urgently and openly with the profession to address.”

Only vulnerable children and those whose parents are key workers have been allowed to attend school since the country’s third lockdown came into force at the start of January.