Covid Inquiry Concludes with Families Blaming Government Incompetence for Deaths
The UK Covid-19 Inquiry has heard its final witness testimony this week, with bereaved families vowing to continue their fight for justice while condemning what they describe as government incompetence, chaos and callousness that led to thousands of pandemic deaths.
Final Testimony from Bereaved Families
Wednesday marked the conclusion of evidence from those who lost loved ones during the pandemic, a moment described as belonging to "many people" across the nation. The Covid Bereaved Families for Justice campaign group emphasized the crucial role played by thousands of bereaved individuals who came together and refused to remain silent, ultimately bringing the inquiry to this critical stage.
Outside the inquiry's London hearing centre, relatives gathered holding photographs of those they had lost, observing a minute of silence in their memory. The hearings for the inquiry's tenth and final module, which has focused on the pandemic's profound impact on society, are scheduled to conclude on Thursday with lawyers delivering their closing statements.
Damning Evidence of Government Failures
Matt Fowler, co-founder of Covid Bereaved Families for Justice UK and the first person to paint a heart on the National Covid Memorial Wall in London, pledged that the group's work would continue despite the conclusion of public hearings.
Speaking outside the inquiry on Wednesday, Fowler told those gathered: "Over the years, we have heard hundreds of hours of evidence, and although only two of ten reports have been published so far, the inquiry's verdict on those in power during the pandemic has already been utterly damning."
He continued: "Thousands of lives cut short because of government incompetence, chaos and callousness. That is what this inquiry has exposed. And that truth is now on the public record."
Inquiry Findings and Government Response
The inquiry was formally launched in July 2022, and a report published in November last year found that chaos at the heart of government and a failure to take Covid-19 seriously cost 23,000 lives during the first wave of the pandemic alone.
Inquiry chairwoman Baroness Heather Hallett's report on the government response to Covid accused then-prime minister Boris Johnson of being excessively "optimistic" in his outlook during the early months of 2020. The report concluded that Johnson presided over a "toxic" culture in Number 10 and regularly changed his mind, while Cabinet members including then-health secretary Matt Hancock plus key scientists all failed to act with the urgency needed to tackle the virus effectively.
Broader Impact and Continuing Work
The impact of lockdowns on domestic abuse victims, the homeless, and bereaved individuals unable to attend loved ones' funerals were among the issues examined as part of the inquiry's final section. While public hearings are concluding this week, further reports will be published in the coming months from the inquiry's other modules, including examinations of healthcare systems, vaccines and therapeutics, procurement processes, the care sector, and the test, trace and isolate system.
Fowler stated that future reports "will give us a blueprint for saving lives" and added: "Our job now is to ensure the blueprint turns into action. Another crisis is inevitable. It is a question of when, not if, and despite more than five years having passed since the start of the pandemic, we are still not prepared."
He emphasized: "So the Government must use the blueprint this inquiry provides to change the country for the better, to take brave, decisive, urgent action."
Campaigners' Continued Fight for Justice
Campaigners declared they would "pursue accountability for the deaths of our loved ones through every route available to us" and work to "ensure that the country continues to remember those we lost and the cost that the pandemic continues to exact on everyone, from the bereaved to those suffering with long Covid."
Fowler reinforced this commitment, stating: "We will keep fighting for justice."
Inquiry Costs and Future Recommendations
By the end of December, the inquiry had spent just under £204 million, including costs for setup, chairwoman and lawyer fees, and holding public hearings across all four nations of the UK.
An inquiry spokesperson explained: "The inquiry has the broadest scope of any previous public inquiry. The most expensive part of the inquiry's work comes to an end in early March with the conclusion of its programme of public hearings."
The spokesperson continued: "Focus then moves to writing the inquiry's remaining reports, five of which will be published this year and three in the first half of 2027. Its recommendations, if implemented swiftly and in full, will ensure that the UK is better prepared for when another pandemic strikes. Only a fraction of the billions spent during the Covid-19 pandemic needs to be saved next time for this inquiry to have been worth it."
