Covid victims 'treated like toxic waste

Families' grief over 'body bag' deaths

- MARTIN BAGOT

BEREAVED families have told the Covid-19 Inquiry their loved ones were "treated like toxic waste".

Furious relatives explained how a lack of PPE and testing meant the virus tore through hospitals and infected patients who they never saw again.

They spoke of the lack of dignity for the dying, and being unable to say goodbye to them, before victims were double bagged in body bags.

Inquiry witness Brenda Doherty told the Mirror she had nothing but contempt for former PM Boris Johnson and his Government staff who were "partying" while loved ones died alone. Her mother, Ruth Burke, 82, was the first woman to die from coronavirus in Northern Ireland in March 2020, having contracted Covid-19 in hospital.

Brenda, of north Belfast, had brought a nightgown for Mother's Day but hospital staff turned her away.