Woman who lost parents gives evidence to inquiry

A woman who lost both her parents to Covid-19 believes they caught the virus through her mother’s carers who were not routinely tested.

Hazel Gray has been giving evidence at the Covid Inquiry on behalf of Northern Ireland Bereaved Families for Justice.

Her parents, Violet and George Little, died a month and a day apart in December 2020 and January 2021.

The inquiry is looking at the approach of the UK government and devolved nations to testing, tracing, and isolation adopted during the pandemic.

“The carers coming to my mother were actually not being tested, nor were other healthcare workers, and to me it seemed to be a total lack of common sense that this was nine months into the pandemic, not two weeks or two months,” said Ms Gray.

“This was nine months later, and these people were actually spreading a virus, and nothing was being done to counteract that.”

Ms Gray’s mother had a care package four times a day as she had been in a wheelchair for 18 years.

Her father, Mr Little, had been the main carer for his wife before the pandemic.

After Mr Little tested positive, Ms Gray said she “knew that it wasn’t me that had passed the virus to them” as her test had been negative.

Her mother also tested positive before she caught the virus too.

“I’m fairly confident that I didn’t bring the virus to them and nobody else would have been in the house other than the carers,” she said.

But Ms Gray told the inquiry that it was the “shocking realisation” that carers were not being tested, which prompted her to send a text message to the then Health Minister, Robin Swann, who she had known for several years.

The inquiry heard aspects of the text sent on 7 December 2020.

“On getting my dad’s result on Saturday morning, I asked my mum’s carers when they were last tested and they said they’re never tested,” Ms Gray said.

“I rang their manager and I’ve been informed it’s not policy for carers in the community to be tested at all on a regular basis.

“I feel this has been the most likely cause of the transmission as my dad rarely leaves the house and I’m so confused as to how those looking after the most vulnerable are not being routinely screened.”

Counsel to the inquiry, Sophie Cartwright, listed a few of the concerns from the NI bereaved families for justice including failures in contact tracing, discharge from hospital to care homes following a positive test or no test, and the absence of a robust system to test, trace, and isolate the virus and the detrimental impact of isolation of vulnerable groups and individuals.

She asked that some consideration be given around the use of isolation in any future pandemic when making recommendations.

She said when she was isolating and wanted to be with her parents she was left with a “strong feeling that it must be a human right to have someone with you when you pass away where this is possible”.

“If it had been an animal, a vet would encourage the animal owner to be there with them until the very end.

“I twice didn’t get that opportunity and so many people have had that similar experience.

“The trauma of not being there for your parents last breaths will stay with me forever,” she said.

In concluding her evidence, Ms Gray described the “horrendous” experience her parents dying “prematurely” had “for me, for them, for the whole country”.

“We must have positive changes that people never have to experience this type of trauma over a virus again.

“Prevention is better than cure and measures must be put in place now because this could happen again at any time,” she added.