COVID inquiry: Bereaved families feel their grief will only be made more bearable when important questions are answered
Kanan Patel still wears a golden wedding band. I can see it as she holds her mobile to read out a text message from her husband Jayesh.
“Things not improving on O2. Need to try something different.”
She texted back: “I’ve spoken to the Dr. Jayesh keep fighting, don’t let this virus defeat you. We all love you and need you.”
The last messages between Kanan and Jayesh
This was the last time Kanan swapped messages with Jayesh. When he sent it he was lying in a hospital bed fighting to breathe. Days later he was intubated, but the doctors could not save him from COVID.
“He was the youngest on the ward,” Kanan tells me.
At just 52 Jayesh was not in the most at-risk groups. But as a community pharmacist working in spring 2020 as the pandemic was beginning to sweep across the world, Jayesh was left exposed and vulnerable without any protection.
I first came to see Kanan in July 2020, three months after her husband’s death. She and her two young daughters, Ria and Kira, were offering prayers during a solemn Hindu ceremony in their kitchen.
She described then, choking back tears, the last time she saw Jayesh: “He walked towards the ambulance in his slippers, I didn’t know he was never going to come back.”
And with those words Kanan broke down.
The National COVID Memorial on the River Thames near Waterloo
Grief internalised as COVID-19 Inquiry resumes
There are no tears today. Kanan’s grief is internalised. She struggles, as do her daughters, on special occasions like birthdays and anniversaries.
Today, Valentine’s Day, is especially hard. It is also the day when the COVID-19 Inquiry resumes. Kanan is watching online but the stream is experiencing technical issues.
Kanan feels the public inquiry into the pandemic might be the only chance of the government being held to account. She blames it for failing to protect her husband, that and its “chaotic” messaging.
Kanan Patel lost her husband Jayesh to COVID
“All the errors and, you know, all the mistakes which delayed providing the PPE and giving clear guidance to people. There’s a lot, there’s a long list. It all came in dribs and drabs, one guideline today and then tomorrow you hear that it’s something else,” she says.
Lobby believes his father would still be alive if guidance reflected all Britons, not just white ones
Kanan’s frustration is shared by Lobby Akinnola.
I arranged to meet him at the National COVID Memorial on the River Thames near Waterloo, just across the water from the Houses of Parliament.
As we walk along the wall looking at the fresh roses and cards left by bereaved family members he stops and points to a blank heart on the wall.
“This is my dad’s heart, it’s faded now,” he says.
The letters may be fading but Lobby’s pain is not.
Lobby Akinnola lost his father Olufemi
His father Olufemi was found dead on the floor of the family’s home in April 2020. Lobby believes his father would still be alive if NHS 111 guidance had reflected all Britons, not just white ones.
‘Race played a part in the death of my father’
“I personally believe race played a part in the death of my father, there’s always the lingering question of ‘if he were white would he be here’ – and it’s things like when trying to diagnose the symptoms of COVID, asking questions like ‘are your lips blue,’ that’s a red flag, immediate, ambulance 999, blue light your way there, but that question doesn’t apply to people like me and my dad,” Lobby says describing his conversation with a 111 call handler.
“So could his life have been saved if we’d thought ahead, and had the forethought and preparedness to consider how these symptoms are going to show up on black skin.”
A woman leaves flowers and a note at the National COVID Memorial on the River Thames near Waterloo
Lobby is clear about his demands from the inquiry: “I want justice and change. There are many decisions that were made in that building across from us now, that resulted in all of these hearts we see on this wall.”
Sky News has contacted NHS England for comment. In a previous statement regarding the 111 service, they said: “GPs, nurses, paramedics and other health service staff working in the 111 phone and online service have played a key role in helping millions of people get the right care and advice – whether for coronavirus or any other urgent medical needs.”
Bereaved families struggling to be heard
Today’s online preliminary hearings suffered some technical problems resulting in a loss of audio.
Bereaved families say they are struggling to be heard too, they can only share their stories via an online form leaving people like Lobby and Kanan feeling sidelined.
As we walk back along the wall, more flowers and Valentine’s cards are being left. It’s clear that the loss of a loved one to COVID was felt more acutely today.
This grief will only be made more bearable when so many important questions are finally answered.
A fresh weather warning for snow has been issued for southern England, with cautions for snow and ice already in place across much of the country.
The Met Office’s yellow weather warning for snow covers the southern counties of England from 9am until midnight on Wednesday.
The warning stretches from Kent to Cornwall and up to south London and the Met Office said between two and five centimetres of snow could accumulate fairly widely, with as much as 10cm over higher ground.
Pic: Met Office
This week is expected to see the coldest nights of the year, with temperatures potentially reaching -14C on Wednesday night and -16C on Thursday night, both in the North East of England and Scotland, the Met Office said.
Weather warnings issued on Tuesday for snow and ice covering the Midlands, parts of North Wales, the North West of England, west and northern parts of Scotland as well as Northern Ireland will remain in place until midday on Wednesday.
The forecaster said some roads and railways are likely to be affected and there could be icy patches on untreated roads.
Pics: AP
Meanwhile the Environment Agency has said at least 300 properties have flooded across England since New Year’s Eve. It estimates more than 41,000 properties have been protected.
Heavy rainfall over the New Year caused significant river and surface water flooding across the North West of England and Yorkshire and snowmelt has brought further disruption to parts of England, particularly the Midlands, the agency said.
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Man says flooding ‘came out of nowhere’
Floods minister Emma Hardy said: “My sympathies go out to the people, businesses and communities impacted by the recent flooding across the country.
“I want to express my heartfelt thanks for the vital work that the Environment Agency and emergency services are doing to keep people safe. People must continue to follow their advice and sign up for flood warnings.”
Flood warnings
Some 100 flood warnings were in force across England on Wednesday, with people urged to remain vigilant over the coming days.
A danger-to-life warning was issued on Tuesday morning for the River Soar near Barrow upon Soar, Leicestershire, but was later removed.
People living in caravan parks in the area were urged by the Environment Agency to act, with a large-scale evacuation needed to save lives.
Firefighters have rescued dozens of people across Leicestershire since Monday, Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service said.
Hundreds of schools were closed across the UK, with road and rail links blocked, as Manchester, Bristol and Liverpool John Lennon airports suspended flights because of the conditions.
A six-month-old baby who died after a collision in a multi-storey car park was on a family holiday to Wales.
Sophia Kelemen from Leigh, Manchester, died after the crash in a car park in the coastal town of Tenby, Pembrokeshire, on 2 January.
Sophia’s aunt, Adriana Kelemen, has now launched a fundraiser to help cover funeral costs.
Writing on the page, Ms Kelemen said “never in a million years” did she think she would have to write such a post.
Ms Kelemen said she hoped to “ease a very small part of [her] brother and sister-in-law’s hurt” by raising money to cover part of the funeral costs.
Sophia was taken to hospital after the crash and treated for her injuries but died the following day, police confirmed.
Dyfed-Powys Police said the crash happened on the ground floor of the car park and that a man had been charged in connection with the incident.
Sophia Kelemen. Pic: Adriana Kelemen/GoFundMe
Speaking to the Manchester Evening News, Ms Kelemen described her niece as “smiley and bubbly” and “so advanced for her age”.
Sophia was “playful and energetic” and “the cutest and most adorable girl”, her aunt added.
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A spokesperson for Dyfed-Powys Police said Sophia’s family were being supported by specialist officers.
The force said it was a “tragic incident” and asked the public not to speculate on the circumstances.
Jess Phillips has said “nothing is off the table” when dealing with the grooming gangs scandal – including a new national inquiry if victims want one.
The safeguarding minister told Sky’s political editor Beth Rigby on the Electoral Dysfunction podcast that she would listen to victims on a new panel that was announced by the government this week.
“Nothing is off the table,” she said.
“And if the victims come forward to me in this victims panel and they say, ‘actually, we think there needs to be a national inquiry into this’, I’ll listen to them.”
Politics latest: Tories told to ‘put up or shut up’
Her comments come days after it emerged she had rejected calls from Oldham Council to hold a government inquiry into grooming gangs in the town, and said the council should commission one instead.
That has led to tech billionaire Elon Musk attacking her and Sir Keir Starmer for not holding a national inquiry and accusing the prime minister of being “complicit” in the abuse.
Professor Alexis Jay finished an eight-year national inquiry into child sexual abuse in 2022 and set out recommendations for the government.
Read more:
What happened in the grooming gangs scandal?
Why the Tories’ attempts to force inquiry won’t work
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Education sec ‘not interested’ in Musk comments
The Conservatives tabled an amendment to the Children’s Safeguarding and Schools Bill on Wednesday to require a statutory inquiry into grooming gangs.
However, Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson told Sky News the Tories “don’t care about children” as the amendment could prevent the entire bill from going forward.
She said: “The measures that I’m setting out today and the legislation in many ways go further because it puts a requirement on all councils to have teams working to keep children safe.
“And the bandwagon jumpers that have come along in recent days, they don’t care about children, they don’t care about making sure that we stop this and we take action.
“They had years to do it and they didn’t do it.”
The Conservatives also rejected a call from Oldham Council for a government inquiry in 2022.
You can listen to Beth’s full interview with Jess Phillips in a special episode of Electoral Dysfunction released on Thursday.
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