The government is working to ease the coronavirus lockdown which has resulted in the UK’s biggest economic downturn for 300 years. But London’s financial district, one of the largest contributors to the country’s economy, will largely remain out of office for months as fears of a second wave of the deadly disease grip the City.

Senior executives at some of the world’s largest investment banks have told Financial News that bringing staff back to their offices in the City of London and Canary Wharf could mean exposing tens of thousands of workers to a renewed surge of Covid-19. The pandemic has infected over five million people globally and killed around 350,000.