Children played video games for up to 19 hours and became more exposed to violent online porn during lockdown, the UK COVID-19 Inquiry has heard, as the impact of the pandemic and school closures disrupted the "very fabric of childhood".

The latest module of the wide-ranging inquiry was told on its opening day some children suffered "grievous harm" at the hands of those who should have been caring for them during the pandemic.

The COVID inquiry was set up to scrutinise the decisions made around the virus and the impact they had on day-to-day life throughout the UK.

COVID-19 first emerged in the Chinese city of Wuhan at the end of 2019, and as it developed into a worldwide pandemic the UK went in and out of unprecedented lockdown measures for two years starting from March 2020.

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