Covid-19 public inquiry opens amid anger from bereaved over testimony

Lady Hallett, chair of the Covid-19 public inquiry, said at the first public hearing that the bereaved will be at the heart of the inquiry.

Hallett addressed anger from some of the bereaved that their testimonies may not be heard as direct evidence by saying that they would be properly consulted.

She said that if they were consulted on every stage of the inquiry, it would continue forever. She insisted her priority was to reach conclusions before another disaster strikes the four nations of the United Kingdom.

Hallett is planning only a listening exercise to capture a cross-section of views among the hundreds of thousands of people who have lost a loved one. They would like their evidence to be heard.

There is a balance to be struck between making timely recommendations and exploring every issue.

Counsel to the inquiry said it would need to be ruthless.

The performance of the public health system, care homes, lockdowns, schools, children, minorities, mental health, the economy and border controls are some of the issues that will be considered.

Some of the grieving families have described the listening exercise as an attempt to "outsource the grief of bereaved families".

In previous public inquiries, family and friends provided pen portraits of their loved ones at the beginning of the hearings. The UK's toll of people with Covid on their death certificate is much higher.

Fran Hall, who lost her husband, Steve, to Covid in October 2020, feels that the inquiry should focus on the impact of the families who have died.

Matt Fowler, a co- founder of the group, said: "Anything less than hearing the bereaved's stories directly would be devastating for families like mine who have worked so hard to get here and could cost lives in the future."

The listening exercise will ensure everyone across the UK who wants to contribute can do so in a less formal setting, according to Hallett. She denied that anyone had not been allowed to testify.

The listening exercise would take accounts from tens or hundreds of thousands of people, which would be analysed and summarised before being given to the inquiry teams.

Pete Weatherby said the inquiry's terms of reference were to listen to and consider the experiences of families who have lost a loved one. He said the listening exercise doesn't do this. He claimed that it marginalises the voices of the dead.

Hallett said there was no question that the bereaved would be marginalized.

Millions of people suffered loss, including the loss of friends and family members, the loss of good health, as a result of the Pandemic. The people who were grieving lost the most.

There are many modules to run in order. The first module will look at the resilience of the UK in the event of a coronaviruses outbreak. Evidence hearings won't begin until next year.