The COVID Inquiry: Will we get answers?
On Thursday 21 July, Baroness Hallett opened the public inquiry into the UK’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Baroness promised to be ‘fair and robust’ as well as aiming to conduct the inquiry as quickly as possible; however, no time frame was provided for its completion.
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| Credit: BBC News. |
With lives lost, the economy crumbling and education pushed to the backburner, the inquiry hopes to give those who suffered the most information on whether more could have been done to avoid this sombre fate.
The first key area of investigation will be the UK’s preparedness for the pandemic; this formally opens on 20 September with public hearings taking place in Spring 2023. The second area of investigation focuses on the UK’s response to the first wave of the pandemic, as well as branching into the third area of investigation concerning the introduction of public restrictions and the scientific data which informed these decisions. Hearings are not expected until the late summer of 2023. The final part of the investigation focuses solely on the impact of COVID-19, whether it be on health services or children, and the challenges brought along by it, ranging from the vaccination programme to the tackling of long COVID.
As
well as the aforementioned topics, the inquiry will also look at the pandemic
response for homeless people, victims of abuse and prisoners, as well as the
billions spent on PPE. Economic losses will be analysed through challenges faced by the UK’s tourism, retail and hospitality industries.
The
inquiry will see key witnesses provide evidence and release documents; however,
it does not hold the power to prosecute or fine anyone due to time and
financial constraints.
Although
the inquiry is a big step towards an answer, many worry that the inquiry will
only scratch the surface of issues. The pandemic hit ethnic minority
communities across the UK the worst; in the first wave, Black people were
almost four times more likely to die than White people. Many members of such
communities are eager to receive answers, but many remained unconvinced that
they will ever get justice.
Care
providers across the UK are being thought of as key witnesses for the case;
these workers remember the early warnings from other countries concerning the
vulnerability of care homes and they remember the slowness of the government to
act on these warnings. With the rapid discharge of hospital patients into care
homes, a struggle to obtain PPE, and a large number of deaths, those in the
care sector will not take this inquiry lightly.
Alongside care workers, bereaved families are demanding to play a central role in the inquiry; they wish to give evidence, access disclose documents and ask questions. It is unclear yet as to how this will function alongside the main inquiry.
This
isn’t the first time that the UK government’s handling of the pandemic has come
under scrutiny. A report by MPs on the Health and Social Care Committee and the
Science and Technology Committee put forward in October 2021 called the UK’s
failure to prevent the early spreading of COVID-19 ‘one of the country’s worst
public health failures.’ In the month following, the National Audit Office
added insult to injury by discovering that the government were never properly
prepared for any pandemic, with no plans for education and employment.
With
the inquiry only in its early days, the government have already been accused of
attempting to block disclosures over its handling of the pandemic.
Investigators have been informed that members of the cabinet aim to limit the
scope of information they will provide the inquiry. Members of the cabinet
remain in fear that they will face claims for damages from the bereaved
families of COVID-19 victims, with many wishing to steer clear from the topic
of death.
In
response to such claims, Baroness Hallett stated: ‘I won’t hesitate to make my
views clear about any organisation or person who stands in the way of the
inquiry performing its task.’
COVID-19
Bereaved Families for Justice Campaign co-founder Jo Goodman spoke highly of
the inquiry: ‘Today was an emotional day for those of us who have lost loved
ones...Ultimately, all bereaved families want the same things, which is to make
sure that lessons are learnt from our devastating losses to protect others in
the future.’
Baroness
Hallett wants Britain to prepare for another pandemic, with citizens across the
UK hoping that this inquiry could save many in the event of another pandemic.