People hold pictures of loved ones, lost during the pandemic, as they attend a protest rally at Dorland House, in London, on June 13.Belinda Jiao/The Associated Press
A long-awaited public inquiry into the British government’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic opened Tuesday with pointed comments about the country’s lack of preparedness and heart-wrenching statements from families who lost loved ones.
The inquiry, headed by retired judge Heather Hallett, was set up by the government in 2021 and is expected to take at least three years to complete. The hearings will examine multiple aspects of the pandemic, ranging from government decision-making to the effectiveness of lockdowns, the development of vaccines and the treatment of people in long-term-care homes and hospitals.
Several hundred witnesses are expected to testify, including Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and former prime minister Boris Johnson, who was in office throughout most of the pandemic.
Ms. Hallett opened the proceedings with a 17-minute video featuring people talking about the impact the pandemic has had on their lives.
“It was a frightening time. It was a very, very lonely time,” said one woman who lost her father to the virus. “Grief is lonely anyway, but grief at that time was so compounded by the absence of comfort, of the closeness of other humans. It was hard. It was hard for so many people.”
Another woman talked about the guilt she felt because her mother died alone in a hospital. “What was the last 12 hours like for her? Thoughts and images of Mummy were in my head about how she protected us for all our lives. In the final hours when she really needed us, none of us could be there,” she said. “History has to reflect the truth of what happened to families like mine.”
Ms. Hallett noted that a group of families had organized a vigil outside the hearing room and brought photographs of relatives who died. “Their grief was obvious to all,” she said. “It is on their behalf and on behalf of the millions who suffered and continue to suffer in different ways as a result of the pandemic that I intend to answer the following three questions: Was the U.K. properly prepared for a pandemic? Was the response to it appropriate? And can we learn lessons for the future?”
Britain was among the European countries hit hardest by the virus. Almost 227,000 people died of COVID-19 in the U.K. over the past three years, and the government has come under criticism for its slow response to the pandemic.
“It is absolutely clear now with hindsight that the disease was spiralling out of control. But to what extent was that possibility foreseen, planned for and guarded against,” asked Hugo Keith, the inquiry’s lead counsel. “Even at this stage, before hearing the evidence, it is apparent that we might not have been very well prepared at all.”
Mr. Keith said the inquiry will examine why deaths from COVID-19 were higher in some communities and among some ethnic groups. The hearings will also explore the necessity and outcome of various government measures, including lockdowns and other restrictions.
“The pandemic disrupted the education of children and young people, put children at risk and has left us with an enduring concern that the pandemic furthered disparities in attainment and development,” he told the hearing. “The pandemic impacted the most disadvantaged communities in society all the more, both in terms of the consequences of getting the virus and in terms of the steps taken to combat the virus.”
The inquiry has already run into controversy over access to documents and the participation of some bereaved families.
Ms. Hallett has been waging a legal battle with the Cabinet Office, the government department that advises the prime minister and cabinet, over the release of thousands of WhatsApp messages that Mr. Johnson sent to 40 officials between Jan. 1, 2020, and Feb. 24, 2022. The list of recipients includes Mr. Sunak, who was Chancellor of the Exchequer during most of the pandemic.
The Cabinet Office has argued that the messages need to be vetted first to weed out those that include irrelevant or sensitive information. Ms. Hallett has insisted that the inquiry should do the vetting once the messages have been turned over. Personal reflections of ministers could be essential, she said, because there has been “well-established public concern as to the degree of attention given to the emergence of COVID-19 in early 2020 by the then-Prime Minister.”
Mr. Johnson has agreed to release the messages he still has and has challenged Mr. Sunak to follow suit. A court is expected to rule on the issue in the next few weeks.
A group of families has also challenged the inquiry for limiting their participation in the hearing.
The COVID-19 Bereaved Families for Justice said only one of its members has been invited to testify in the first stages of the inquiry. The organization has also questioned the inquiry’s Every Story Matters project, which is gathering material from more than 6,000 people affected by the pandemic.
The exclusion of families has been “incredibly disappointing and hurtful,” the group said in a statement. “But far worse, they risk crucial learnings being missed, which could cost lives in the future.”
Paul Waldie