COVID-19 inquiry in UK asks whether ‘terrible consequences’ could have been avoided

By JILL LAWLESS
Associated Press

LONDON (AP) — A mammoth three-year public inquiry into Britain’s handling of COVID-19 has opened. It is investigating whether suffering and death could have been avoided with better planning. Lawyer Hugo Keith is counsel to the inquiry. He said the coronavirus pandemic had brought “death and illness on an unprecedented scale” in modern Britain. He said that COVID-19 has been recorded as a cause of death for 226,977 people in the U.K. He said “the key issue is whether that impact was inevitable.” A group of people who lost relatives to COVID-19 held pictures of their loved one outside the inquiry venue as hearings opened Tuesday. The inquiry is due to last until 2026.