Covid inquiry: Widow says 'there was no humanity' in husband's death

  • Video report by Tom Barton

A North Yorkshire woman who lost her husband to Covid said "there was no humanity" in how he died as the inquiry into the handling of the pandemic opened.

Andy Cohen, 59, from Skelton, became ill with Covid days before the first lockdown was announced.

His widow Debbie Cohen joined many bereaved families in London for a silent procession on Tuesday 13 June as the official UK Covid-19 inquiry began.

The idea behind the investigation, launched by former Prime Minister Boris Johnson, is to "examine the UK’s response to and impact of the Covid-19 pandemic, and learn lessons for the future".

Remembering her husband, Mrs Cohen said: "Everybody loved him, he was full of character. Just a relaxed, happy-go-lucky chap really.

"A couple of days before the official lockdown, Andy started to become unwell. We'd already started to take our own precautions, but he became unwell and he just deteriorated."

People hold pictures of loved ones lost during the pandemic, outside the UK Covid-19 Inquiry Credit: Belinda Jiao/PA

After caring for Andy at home under advice from 111 for 10 days, Mrs Cohen eventually pushed for proper medical attention.

She said: "He just became so unwell I rang 111 again and insisted that somebody came to see him, that he's sent to hospital. I don't know whether that's the worst thing I ever did because from that day I couldn't see him.

"The doctors just rang me one morning and told me 'he's gone'."

"My worst thoughts are how Andy died alone and I couldn't do anything for him and I think things like that need to be brought to the attention of the inquiry.

"He couldn't have a funeral. There was no humanity in what we were able to do. They're only going to learn of the mistakes by the impact that they had on people."

Elkan Abrahamson, a solicitor representing the Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice (CBFFJ) UK group, which has almost 7,000 members, said Tuesday "marks the end of a two-year battle by the bereaved to get a statutory public inquiry."

Lucy Craig watched the opening hearing of the inquiry. Credit: ITV Tyne Tees

West Farm Care Home in Longbenton, Newcastle, lost 11 residents over the course of two weeks in November 2020.

Watching the first hearing, managing director Lucy Craig said: "I've never recovered yet from what happened. I don't believe that I ever will. It [the inquiry] brings the reality and the raw emotion of everything back.

"If we get an outcome and that's put down in black and white on paper so that if it happens again that we can learn from the experience that we've got, then I have to believe that's going to happen."

The first module of the inquiry is expected to last around six weeks, during which there will be a focus on whether the pandemic was properly planned for and "whether the UK was adequately ready for that eventuality".

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