Betrayal of Covid bereaved families

BRANDON and Liliana Toni are still haunted by losing their dad to Covid. Nick, a former RAF police officer who was a guide dog instructor, was a fit and healthy 61-year-old before contracting the disease and being admitted to hospital.

- ROS WYNNE-JONES AND CLAIRE DONNELLY

"My children lost their father in March 2021 when they were just 10 and 13 years old," their mum, Sarah, 41, from Telford, Shropshire. says. "They had to say goodbye over FaceTime.

"They have night terrors from seeing their father on life support. They suffer constant anxiety, which is particularly acute when going out in public. And when anyone in our family feels unwell, they worry that I too will die and leave them all alone." This was the evidence Sarah wanted to give at the UK Covid inquiry, which resumed hearings on Monday. But this week she learned that families like hers have been barred from giving evidence in Module 8 which will cover the impact of Covid on children and young people.

The Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice UK group say they feel "betrayed and silenced" by Baroness Heather Hallett and her inquiry after having their application for core participant status denied for Module 8.

Meanwhile, only two out of 23 representatives they asked the inquiry to hear from will be heard as part of Module 3 which will cover the NHS-related section of evidence this autumn.

"There has been no closure for my children, and I believe this will impact their lives for ever," says Sarah, a housekeeper at a local hospice. "My children are also incredibly angry.

"They are now 13 and 16 and don't trust anything the Government says and now they feel they have been betrayed by Baroness Hallett not wanting to hear their experience. It's heartbreaking" Anne Steadman, 52, who lost her dad Frank Nunes, was among those not called as witnesses for Module 3. After Frank, 79, was admitted as a new cancer patient, she described scenes as "like a warzone" where "individuals were walking back and forth installing doors, cleaning vents above him, and no one was wearing PPE. The hospital has confirmed he contracted Covid in hospital".

She says a Do Not Resuscitate order was applied against Frank's explicit wishes.