Campaigners are calling for race to be made a central part of the UK’s independent public inquiry into the pandemic. A letter seen by BBC News, sent to the chairwoman of the Covid-19 inquiry, Baroness Hallett, has been co-ordinated by the group Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice and race equality think tank Runnymede. It has been signed by 26 other organisations, including NHS BME Network and London-based Guys and St Thomas’s Foundation.
The letter calls for ethnic minority communities to be “placed firmly at the centre” of the inquiry, as official figures show that they were significantly more likely to die with Covid-19. An inquiry spokesperson said the unequal impacts of the pandemic would be at the forefront of its work.
People from ethnic minority backgrounds who lost loved-ones during the pandemic have expressed feeling “sidelined” by the process so far. Lobby Akinnola, whose father died with Covid in April 2020, believes racism must be examined as a systemic and structural problem. His father was a key worker, and Lobby believes he did everything right to try and stay alive.
The inquiry has set up a listening exercise to gather people’s experiences, but some feel it is an “entirely separate process” to the main inquiry. Jean Adamson, whose father died in a care home during the pandemic’s first wave, said she feels voices like hers have not been heard so far.
The Covid-19 Inquiry has said it is committed to looking at inequalities, and that their impact on the pandemic will be at the forefront of its investigations. It has appointed two world-leading inequalities experts to contribute to the first module, and specialists in research and communications to enable thousands of people across the UK to share their experiences of the pandemic.
Campaigners are calling for race to be made a central part of the UK’s independent public inquiry into the pandemic. A letter seen by BBC News, signed by 26 organisations including NHS BME Network and London-based Guys and St Thomas’s Foundation, has been sent to Baroness Hallett, chairwoman of the Covid-19 inquiry. It calls for ethnic minority communities to be “placed firmly at the centre” of the inquiry, as official figures show they were significantly more likely to die with Covid-19.
An inquiry spokesperson said the unequal impacts of the pandemic would be at the forefront of its work. People from ethnic minority backgrounds who lost loved-ones during the pandemic have expressed feeling “sidelined” by the process so far. Lobby Akinnola, whose father died with Covid in April 2020, believes racism must be examined as a systemic and structural problem.
The Covid-19 Inquiry has said it is committed to looking at inequalities, and has appointed two world-leading inequalities experts to contribute to the first module. It has also set up a listening exercise to gather people’s experiences, with specialists in research and communications enabling thousands of people across the UK to share their experiences of the pandemic.
However, some feel that the listening exercise is an “entirely separate process” to the main inquiry. Jean Adamson, whose father died in a care home during the pandemic’s first wave, said she feels voices like hers have not been heard so far. She said Baroness Hallett had promised that bereaved families would be front and centre of the inquiry, but she feels a sense of betrayal that this isn’t happening.
Campaigners are calling for race to be made a central part of the UK’s independent public inquiry into the pandemic, as official figures show that ethnic minorities were significantly more likely to die with Covid-19. The Covid-19 Inquiry has said it is committed to looking at inequalities and has appointed two world-leading inequalities experts to contribute to the first module. It has also set up a listening exercise to gather people’s experiences, but some feel it is an “entirely separate process” to the main inquiry. People from ethnic minority backgrounds who lost loved-ones during the pandemic have expressed feeling “sidelined” by the process so far.