Readers have responded to the official Covid-19 inquiry report, which condemned the UK government's handling of the pandemic as 'too little, too late'. In letters to the Guardian, they shared personal tragedies and criticised the leadership of then-prime minister Boris Johnson.
One reader described losing an aunt and uncle to Covid within an hour of each other in different Manchester hospitals, while their son survived after a stay in A&E. Their father died of Covid after being rushed out of hospital late at night due to fears on the ward. The funeral was limited to a small number of people, in line with rules, while Johnson's government was partying in Whitehall.
Another reader recalled arriving at Gatwick on 19 March 2020 from Mexico, where social distancing and hand-sanitiser were widespread, only to find no guidance or precautions at the airport. They described this as an indictment of a country where too much power is concentrated in Westminster.
Comparing Johnson to Gordon Brown, a reader noted that Brown immediately cut short a holiday in 2007 to address a foot-and-mouth outbreak, reading reports overnight and producing an action plan. The 2007 outbreak was swiftly contained. The reader suggested that had a similar prime minister been in charge during Covid, fewer lives would have been lost.
The report by Baroness Hallett detailed Johnson's incompetence, including taking four days off as the NHS warned of being overwhelmed. Readers expressed hope that Johnson would never show his face in public again, and noted that his actions during the pandemic—including partying and lying to parliament—were already known before the inquiry.
