The campaign to beat the pandemic

Action Covid isn’t over demonstrations

On November 30, December 6 and December 11 protests were held outside the Covid Inquiry in London as Matt Hancock, then Boris Johnson, then Rishi Sunak were giving evidence. Organised by Covid Groups together the actions gave a range of individuals and groups an opportunity to express their feelings and views about how the pandemic was so disastrously mismanaged.

Campaigners were also aware that their are many people whose lives have been disastrously impacted by the pandemic who would not be able to participate in an in person action in central London, some because of the usual reasons of caring responsibilities, work and or distance but most particularly in this instance because they are still shielding or incapacitated by Long Covid.

We appealed on social media for messages which were then read out during the three accounts and reprint the 88 testamonies here – as they merit reading and rereading, interspersed with photographs and videos of the protest

Julie , London          

When covid first hit, people responded faster than the government – theatres closed before they were told to, volunteers formed community groups to help those isolating. We helped each other and thought about our communities. But now the government has abandoned public health, and told everyone it’s over.  People no longer have the information they need to keep themselves and their loved ones safe. I want to live in a society where everyone is educated about disease prevention and encouraged to behave with consideration, especially for vulnerable or disabled people who are getting the roughest deal.

Paul Keeble, Essex

Covid isn’t over it’s still killing and disabling every week. Long Covid needs significant research funding or we will spend the rest of our lives stuck in bed.

Emma Manchester, Derbyshire     

We understand that everyone has had enough of covid and that no one wants to change how they live their lives. We understand that the last few years have left no one untouched. You might wonder why we are protesting today. It’s all over right?  We are here because we know that ignoring something doesn’t make it go away and we want a better, healthier future for everyone. We cannot have that if we don’t deal with what is happening. The evidence is overwhelming and people keep dying every day. We think we all deserve better. Please listen to what we have to say. Let’s find a better way.

Elaine Johnston, Scotland        

You took our freedom, you took our loved ones’ lives, you told nothing but lies and now you must be held accountable. Hold your head in shame, take the blame and at least give us a little respect. Speak the truth learn the lessons to allow this inquiry to make sure no other families suffer when the next pandemic comes.

Helen, West Midlands

1000 a month die from COVID in the UK, many more sick, both short and long term. School kids suffering, hospitals dangerous. We need air filters (like parliament has), ventilation, FFP2 masking, testing and support for isolation. We also need those jabs that you are going to bin. Covid is not over, stop lying!!

 Carole Anne Stewart, Scotland (Scottish Covid bereaved)         

I hope this pain never lands on your doorstep. The way you’s allowed it to land on our’s. Our family chain is broken. The missing link can never be replaced.  My family’s just like that chain -BROKEN.  And can never be repaired.  You’s have got blood on your hands.  How can you sleep at night you monsters.   Jail the lot of them RIP DEREK AND CRAIG FOREVER YOUNG 

Joan Twelves, London          

I really wish I could join you today but multiple ailments mean shielding and not travelling across London. As one of Covid Action’s organisers, I am really pleased that so many of our activists are involved in this demonstration of our disgust at the way this Tory government, already so guilty of incompetence, contempt, arrogance, and nearly a quarter of a million avoidable deaths,  continues to gaslight us into believing that Covid is over. No it’s not!  Not only are hundreds of people still getting sick and some dying from Covid every week, but millions are still shielding because their high risk if they catch Covid has not suddenly disappeared, and millions are suffering the long term effects of this nasty virus through Long Covid and other debilitating conditions. Have a good day, everyone, and thank you for making sure our voices can be heard. Solidarity, Joan

Defend our NHS Wirral

Solidarity and support from us.

Katie, Newcastle  

Covid has ruined my life at only 14 years old, taken my freedom, my education, my friends, my childhood and left with an uncertain future.

William, Exeter            

I get so depressed, family members don’t seem to want to protect themselves and other people, and this is all down to poor public health messaging, the media, and of course the government. I am considered a complainer because I try to keep them informed,  “Everybody else is living with it” they say, but of course they are not protecting anyone. They think I am a conspiracy “nut”. It also has made me lose faith with people’s goodwill to each other.

Lucy, West Midlands          

We know that doing away with Covid mitigations is the government wanting to carry on with eugenics.

Imogen Dempsey, East of England        

We must have Clean Air in schools and all public buildings, to drive down illness rates across all our communities. Healthcare settings must acknowledge and protect against airborne transmission of viruses.  We can’t ignore the consequences of Covid. Wishing Covid would go away hasn’t worked, how much more illness and disruption are we willing to put up with?

Elaina  Knibb, Warwickshire         

I developed long covid in 2022 despite being fully vaccinated and young. I am at constant threat of further deterioration through reinfection, all because of the lack of covid mitigations. We need to implement clean indoor air in all public buildings.

Amanda Dowdney, London          

It won’t be long now before I will have had Long Covid for four years. I have now had the Covid infection three times. I was forced to retire early from the NHS.  This morning I have woken up and As usual I am feeling very unwell suffering from a multitude of neurological problems. I’m finding life almost too difficult to cope with anymore. Everyday I weep with pain and discomfort. There are many more like me including children. We need help – now.

Juliette, Surrey      

Please stop talking about the Covid pandemic being something in the past. Please use the lessons learned to make our futures safer.

Helen, London          

I’m immunosuppressed.  I work.  I have to visit hospital regularly.  There are no mitigations against airborne diseases anywhere in hospital.  No FFP3/2 masking.  No ventilation. No air filtration.  Hospital acquired and school acquired infection of Covid is high.

Desmond  Whyms, Penzance      

It is hard to believe that 4 years into this Pandemic we are still failing to contain the virus, or protect the vulnerable.  Shame on all those who have compromised their professional integrity and failed public health.  Decent masks in ALL health care settings should be a minimum; along with better research and treatment for the long-term damage SARS2 is doing, and – most importantly – safer, cleaner indoor air in all public settings.    It is deeply disappointing to note that the theatrical performance taking place behind us is not progressing any of these urgent goals. 

Chloe, originally Isle of Wight, now Scotland

I’ve lost my business, my home and had to move to the other end of the Country. All I’ve tried to get is a blood test to see if I have any Covid antibodies, so that I can decide if I’m safe enough to be able to go out and try and find a job. Nobody will help me. Although the Government cancelled shielding the immunocompromised are still at as much risk as we were before! Don’t forget us, we still need a life!

Helen, Cambridge     

We have a right to breathe clean air just like we have a right to drink clean water.  Clean air NOW.  Schools, shops, workplaces, all public spaces need good ventilation and filtration to clean the air.  Clean air NOW.   Contaminating our water with sewage makes it undrinkable, just as contaminating our air with Covid makes it unbreathable.   Clean air NOW   Demand clean air in all public spaces NOW.

Anne  McConway, Cumbria         

Covid infection October’21. Myself and my husband did not recover. Long covid has destroyed our health. Our children have suffered as we could not take care of them. I lost my job. Financially it has been disastrous. There is no treatment. There is no help. They are lying to us all about what Covid is and what it is doing to everyone. My children have also struggled with nose bleeds and my eldest developed a tic. We are all playing with fire. You don’t want Covid. Avoid it wherever possible. Our government will not protect you or help you when you don’t recover from your next infection, or the one after that, or the one after. You get the idea.

Cassandra Mayer, London          

Two close relatives lost and no lessons learned. Why limit vaccines, testing, research and mitigations when these advances in knowledge could free us?

Linda  Phillips, Flintshire, N Wales UK        

Long COVID, has impacted millions, an invisible illness for many. My life will never be the same and the government just shuts it’s eyes to it.

Caroline, Barnet

Thanks to everyone on this demonstration and to those who have made it possible.  Covid isn’t over.  This is my 4th winter of living in almost isolation in order not to get it.  I have an autoimmune illness amongst other chronic illnesses.  Most of my outings are to hospitals and now that NHS workers aren’t obliged to wear masks, I have to think whether I want to put myself in danger in order to have necessary treatment, although I wear a well-fitting mask.   We need simple effective measures of good ventilation in public places, free Covid tests, proper sick pay when ill with Covid and Clinics specialising in Long Covid. 

Anne Marie, London          

Our voice is not heard clearly, we struggle with the simplest things.  Our bodies are under constant stress with different aliments, illness creating new ones.  We stand here today because that’s how we feel, at this moment I am not breathing properly, my chest in spasms, dizziness, muscle weakness and nerve pain. Sleepless nights then the worse fatigue.  How can you say its over…   When my illness is still here and my pains are still very much alive.

Julie Joughin, Liverpool       

Me and my family will never get over the loss of my father Edward Charles Joughin, who died of Covid on 24 April 2020!!  Last time we seen my dad was going in the back of an ambulance waving telling us to look after ourselves. (crying emojis)  We never seen him again as we weren’t allowed, the guilt we have all felt for not being with my dad when he needed us most! will live with us for the rest of our lives.  I am now supporting my mother who is still in deep shock and completely lost it’s disgusting my father was a good man and didn’t deserve this treatment….

Niamh, Glasgow        

COVID-19 and Long Covid disabled me. I’m twenty-four, was a straight A student and had just gotten a first at university – I was doing everything I was ‘supposed to do’ – and now after one COVID infection I have gruelling heart, lung, and fatigue issues. I can’t think like I used to, exercise, give my time to family and friends, have had to reduce my working days from 5 to 2, and am entirely reliant on my family and partner. Why are we being exposed to this pathogen? Why does the government not care about its working class? The risk of getting long covid is cumulative with each infection and it destroys your immune system, making you vulnerable. We can’t live like this. Our children can’t live like this.

Rebecca, London          

The numbers of people dying and facing long term disability are growing and will only get worse. Please stop pretending the pandemic is over and take action!

Claire, Cheshire        

I have long COVID and have been ill for 44 months, previously fit n healthy and caught Covid at work as an essential worker in food manufacturing.  The government is negligent for all the ppl  in past 4 years that are disabled or died and that are still dying and being disabled  by long covid .   #covidisnotover

Emma, Coventry        

It is not too late to turn a corner and start to deal with the current Covid situation. Pretending covid is over is not helping anybody, especially children.

Jenny, Southampton         

As Covid is NOT OVER, where are our boosters for all, like in the US, Canada & other countries?  Many haven’t had a vaccination for TWO years. We can’t even BUY them.  We cannot “Live with Covid” without the tools.  We need HEPA filters in schools, offices & public indoor spaces, free testing, paid isolation, masks in healthcare & vaccines!

Frank  McEntaggart, Merseyside    

Greetings from Merseyside. I’m really sorry I can’t be at the demo today. I think demonstrations like these are so important. People need to be able to show their disgust at the way this government has behaved since the start of the pandemic. The lack of adequate PPE, dodgy deals with their associates to provide equipment, nearly a quarter of a million avoidable deaths, and, from some at least, the belief that certain sections of society are expendable. The government wants us to believe the pandemic is over, we know this is not the case. Covid is still with us. People are still dying. People are still suffering from long Covid and other conditions that have resulted from infection. I hope it goes well today. I’m sure you will make your presence felt. Solidarity, Frank

Jacqueline Waddington        Lancs 

Got covid from work as a care worker when a resident came in with it, without being tested.  Now have long Covid and other medical conditions due to this and I lost my job from no fault of my own.

Geraint  Jones           South Wales. 

I was a fit and healthy healthcare professional with no health conditions or concerns prior to contracting COVID-19 during April 2020. I volunteered to work on the COVID-19 positive wards for this exact reason. It’s been nearly four years since contracting the virus and I am still feeling the effects of the illness to this day. COVID is still affecting individuals every single day, and the impact on their lives can be extremely debilitating.  COVID is not a ‘mild illness’.  COVID is airborne.  And COVID is certainly not over.

Nico Reznick              W. Mids          

I was disabled by a single C19 infection working in care in 2020.  I’m now immunosuppressed.  The culture of pandemic denial and lack of protection make it impossible for me to participate in society, even to safely access much-needed healthcare appointments.  This pantomime of normality continues to assist the virus in maiming and killing even more.

Suzanne                     Cumbria         

Please support the clinically vulnerable, we haven’t had an overnight miracle cure and still need further measures to protect us especially in health CARE settings that we have to attend. We don’t want to be even more ill. Thank you.  (thank you emoji)

Holly                Midlands        

Covid isn’t over. It adapts, it changes, but sadly we as a society have not.  This government must atone for their actions and for their lack of action. I needed emergency spinal surgery during lockdown. I was in hospital alone for months. My friends and family not there when I woke up from 2 lots of major spinal surgery. I had to suffer alone at the time when I needed my family the most while those in power drank and danced together. Shame on them.  Masks have been abandoned, high risk people have been abandoned, those with long Covid have been abandoned. No help has been made available, only more benefits sanctions and new mandates to push disabled people who cannot work into even more poverty and death. This government must atone for their actions and for their lack of action. Covid isn’t over.

Stephanie          Norfolk        

My blood cancer medication makes it dangerous for me to catch Covid. I’ve been locked down for nearly 4 years now. I can’t access health care safely because there are no precautions in place. Covid is still with us, we are allowing new variants to develop all the time, and repeated infections are causing long term health problems for countless people. I fear for my grandchildren’s health. Stop the denials. Stop the gaslighting. Covid is still here.

Sally-Anne      Adams           Hertfordshire 

My Dad was 93 when he caught Covid. He survived a war, three bombings, the 1946 Potters Bar train crash, a heart attack & stroke, the death of our beloved Mam – then sepsis and near death in 2019. In his final years, wanted only one thing – to die at home with his family close by. Instead, he suffered for a month in hospital, alone, on oxygen, then died with a stranger by his side. His body was treated like contaminated waste by a heartless funeral director’s, who blamed government legislation for their cruelty.   Our Dad was a good, hard-working man; he paid his taxes, & contributed to the NHS for decades. He was not a number, a statistic, or a body to “pile up”.  He was failed by the government that he voted for & believed in. His was the last Tory vote our family will ever cast.  Norman Adams, died 8th Feb, 2021 

Nicole Martin  USA   

Covid is not over! I am now 38, had severe LC for 3.4 years!! I am filing for disability because I just can’t take this agonizing disease any longer! I’ve done my part and researched the last couple years while working (but not really) and I can’t physically do it anymore! My family is suffering, my job is suffering, but most importantly I am suffering!  I feel like I’m dying!  Please believe us and please support us!!!   I have always loved hard work and that’s the hardest thing to except is I won’t be making my own money or living like before but it’s more important for me to be ok!  So I can help others to be ok

Hazel               SW England  

To prevent long-term serious health damage in children & adults, add HEPA air filtration indoors incl. education settings which UK Parliament & the Covid Inquiry has done & more nationally in Japan & other Countries. Government haven’t corrected wrongs to protect the country otherwise they are causing sustained long-term damage to every one of us from either loss of health, life or income.

Noah               Bristol

If there’s one thing I’ve had confirmed time and time again over the past four years, it is that all of our struggles are linked. Solidarity with everyone still fighting Covid, solidarity with the Palestinian people, solidarity with everyone who knows that a better world is possible and wants to make it happen. The battle is long and our foes are many, but we are more – we shall always be many more. Covid is not over, but neither are we.

Katie               Cambridge     

Covid is still here, rotting your brains, rotting your children’s brains, and the government knew it was bad, scientists knew it was bad. But didn’t care. They’re more interested in a quick quid, than any of your lives. They must pay!

Alison              Devon

Covid isn’t over. The effects continue to impact and limit the lives of many. I was an enthusiastic and committed teacher. I now live a life in the shadows – breathless, fatigued, unable to work, focus, achieve. Don’t forget those suffering with Post Covid 19 Syndrome.  Long covid is real and life altering.

Dan McMahon            Glasgow        

Who are we? Those who know: the damned, We wear our respirators, crank windows, feel for a crossbreeze.  We cancel plans, don’t make the reservation or have earnest conversations. Many think of us as haunted.  We have few of the tools the wealthy possess, knowledge as power without raw power. Power taken over ourselves feels revolutionary. It is not, real power is held in common and this we lack.  We are keepers of air quality forecasts, and watch the cases, hospitalisations and “excess deaths”   We see the tools, HEPA filtration, respirators for all, far spectrum UVC light, ventilation. All are close enough to taste, feel or hear the electric hum of, but far enough away to be spectral.  Each moment, someone is taken from us.  We mourn the dead. We didn’t foreclose on their lives as the consensus did.  Gravely, we are not burying each other but a shared social inheritance, Capital needs us remade. Kills and resurrects us zombie-children of mother TINA (there is no alternative).  We lose worker protection, PPE, the precautionary principle, scientific consensus long built and tested.  Social processes & victories, forms of a real collective culture are lost, seemingly forever.  Culture is to be cute/ culture without masks.  All dissent muffled in white noise. Capitalism forever, vibes over lives.  We are living with covid.   (We don’t know how to live well).   

H         Manchester   

I cannot find the words to express how urgent and important it is to immediately take steps in every organisation and public space to prevent transmission of this still very much deadly and from the bottom of my soul – just as climate change is a threat to all humanity, so is this virus, as well as the harm degrading the NHS, the very concept of public health, and our ability to even be inside a shared reality with others.  As well as attacking our bodies is it destroying trust, unity, equality in our communities. This is eugenics, here, now, poisoning every relationship and connection along with our immune systems.

Janet   Newsham       Preston          

More than 20,000 workers have died because the risks to their health weren’t controlled and hundreds of thousands have been left with debilitating health conditions from Covid infections, who are now being dismissed because of sickness records. But no one is required to report or investigate to determine where they were infected. Our government continues to be negligent in reducing infections and preventing transmission of the virus and has left thousands living in fear of infections.

Carolyn Johnson       South West   

My Dad died of hospital acquired COVID on 4th April 2020 after the government failed to act earlier and lock down. Lack of planning and intervention caused the death of my Dad and so many more.  My Dad died without us there. No PPE, no adequate testing, no planning for a pandemic caused his death. The government and Boris Johnson failed us and continued to fail us, they failed my Dad and their actions caused my Dad to die unnecessarily, he was scared and without us.  The impact of his death contributed to the death of my mum, his wife of 52 years, 23 months later.   I hold the government and Boris Johnson responsible.

Jill Bradbury   Leeds Yorkshire       

Brian Bradbury  12/1/1957 to 30/11/2020   My Brian was my loving husband of 44 years, a devoted loyal father and grandad, a hard-working man, not a statistic, not someone’s body to be piled up!   He had DNR put on his medical notes against our wishes, I was told the government insisted it was done on all covid patients, with pre-existing conditions.  Brian had survived cancer, being given the all clear.  He caught Covid due to your incompetence!  in his final weeks Brian was denied his family around him, his belongings after he passed were to be incinerated!  I could not hug him, love him or be with him, when he needed me the most. Only 18 allowed at his funeral, this is the day, you the government were PARTYING!  Drinking. Laughing at us.  You were the cause of my husband’s death and his suffering! My Brian, who worked all his life, and when he needed support, you let him down. My family are broken, suffer from PTSD, depression, his death was murder, and you are all responsible . Remember his name: BRIAN BRADBURY  

Jane    Armstrong      Gateshead     

My husband Joe passed away 9th march 2021, he went into hospital with chest infection and caught COVID pneumonia and bacterial infection in hospital, he was put into a coma and then his machines turned off.  I was told they were sorry, they could have done better and they learn by their mistakes, and it won’t happen again. So was my husband a mistake?  They are professionals, they shouldn’t be making mistakes and that doesn’t help me deal with the loss of my lovely husband.  How many more mistakes did they make?

Sarah Lawlor            Cheshire        

Covid has devastated my family. In June 2020 we lost my Dad and then Mum within 24 hours of each other. Their loss is beyond measure, beyond words. This beautiful couple, who loved each other, who loved us were so terribly let down and did not deserve their fate. They did not stand a chance, collateral damage in the eyes of the Westminster government who have shown utter incompetence and the inability to tell the truth. Shame on them all.

Sammie Mcfarland     Dorset

My daughter was healthy and happy 14 year old.  She is now 18 and living with preventable disability, Long Covid. Her life has been completely altered, she’s missed 2 years of education and worries about her ability to be independent.  She lives with pain and debilitating symptoms and still doesn’t have any treatment options or healthcare support.  She needs answers.

Ruth Hancocks          Warwickshire            

I continue to have long COVID, since March 2020 I get daily symptoms. My son had COVID twice in 2022 along with Encephalitis that went untreated. We have experienced multiple gaslighting and misdiagnosis. My son now 17 is chronically ill.  Life changed for the entire family in the blink of an eye. Please keep striving for quicker diagnosis, treatments and increase knowledge and awareness of this awful situation.  Lastly please recognise long COVID as a valid and genuine life-long disability.

Sylvie              Cambridge     

My daughter caught covid age 7 in March 2020.  She has yet to recover and longs to go to school full-time, do PE, to dance and swim and cartwheel again.  She has lost her health and her childhood.  The NHS offers NO treatment.  So please fund research for Long Covid Treatment in children.  Please stop the spread, and fund HEPA filters for schools so our children can learn without the risk of infections. We would be horrified if children came home ill from not having clean water at school, why is it OK to accept they come home ill from not having clean air?  Government buildings have clean air – our schools deserve it too.

Martin              Cambridge     

LOOK at the science showing the risks of multiple Covid infections!!!! The more times a person catches Covid, the more they are at risk of cardiovascular events, the more they are at risk of premature dementia, the more they are at risk of chronic illness and being unable to work.    This is a huge public health problem for EVERYONE.  Please stop ignoring that!!   Stop putting Covid in the “too difficult pile”. Multiple infections are stacking up health problems for millions and millions of our population.   Ventilate.  Clean Air.  Mask in hospitals.  Test for covid and stay home if you are unwell. Provide ANTIVIRALS.

Jo        Essex 

We were not believed for 6 months after visiting A and E again and again.  We were told it was all in our 9 year old daughter’s head. She didn’t want to go to school so she was making up the chronic pain in her legs and not being able to walk and not having the strength to feed herself. Finally we found a paediatrician that listened and a GP that listened who helped us and understood it was long covid but still they couldn’t help as no one knew anything or would try anything. Our daughter was in a wheelchair for 18 months, couldn’t dress herself couldn’t feed herself, couldn’t read, couldn’t draw, couldn’t see friends, didn’t go to school. She is now 11 years old and through a private GP she is beginning to recover but huge damage occurred because she wasn’t believed. Shame on you UK, government shame on you. Start following research that is out there and prescribe medicines that help.

Penny             Hertfordshire 

My 15 year-old son, Ill since 2020, unable to attend school, in pain and with no energy. COVID is not over for him!

Jenny Shepherd        West Yorkshire         

We all need HEPA filters in all public buildings and transport. What’s good enough for MPs and Peers is good enough for the rest of us.  And paid time off from work for people who get COVID 19.

Heidi    Bohrn Denham         

My son who is 11 now has been sick with Long Covid for nearly 4 years, he has all the general symptoms along with cyclone vomiting and unable to go to school. He had Covid 5 times now, just imagine waking up day after day, month after month, feeling sick and vomiting each day. What made it worse is he was denied access to medical attention because of the words … Covid didn’t affect kids! All authorities followed suit of those words and didn’t believe us. They denied us support, acknowledgement and medical access. They directed schools to open, with not clean air, they encouraged people to eat out to spread the virus, yet we are the ones in pieces watching our children not able to have a normal life, suffering mentally, physically and emotionally  because our government choose to deny the problem existed. Now imagine that’s your child? No words can express the anxiety we feel for the future of our once happy boy.

Susie               Cambridgeshire        

Why, in light of indisputable knowledge about post viral illnesses. SARS and MERS in particular. Were the public not informed of potential enduring illness and  required services put in place? Long Covid should have been no surprise to even the most poorly read healthcare worker. Yet those of us with long covid were (and still are) treated as melodramatic and perpetually gaslit.

Jo Edge          London          

The impact on my 14 year old daughter with long covid has been devastating. For almost 2 and a half years it has felt as if her illness is unseen. So many questions and so few answers. What kind of future will she have and when will she get the support that she so desperately needs? Let our children with long covid been seen and give them the help and support they need so they have a future.

Emma             Kent   

Long Covid has destroyed our World, our previous healthy daughter is now a partial wheelchair user and needs to pace her whole life. Our daughter is only 9 years old, imagine pacing your life at 9 years old. Long Covid is not all in our children’s heads, children can not dream up this living nightmare. Please stop gaslighting our children!

Neera     Surrey         

Covid isn’t over, children  are not protected either by vaccination or air filtration at school and each infection brings them closer to a risk of debilitating long covid.

Katherine Flanagan   Dover , Kent  

My wonderful 13 year old son caught Covid after the children were sent back to school without having HEPA filters installed in them. Consequently, three years later, he is still severely ill with Long Covid . He has also been diagnosed with Postural tachycardia syndrome and dysautonomia. He suffers from dizzyness, terrible fatigue and debilitating cognitive problems.  The government knew this could happen and yet they did nothing to protect my child or any other child. Still schools don’t have HEPA filters. Still children get reinfected. When will this end?

Tiffany   Cardiff Wales          

My child has spent 2 years unwell with Long covid, and since then they have lost their health, their hobbies, and their schooling. No more scouts, no more swimming, no more archery, no more walking to school, no more hanging out with friends. Watching everyone else move on while we have had zero help from doctors, GP, or school. Not being believed. Being pushed round school part time in a wheelchair then being forced to leave as they wouldn’t provide work to do at home. Being mocked for wearing a mask. Long Covid has taken everything from them and the world around them, inspired by the government has done absolutely nothing to help them. What the future holds, we just don’t know. Love to everyone struggling with this horrible condition.

Lisa     Conway          South East    

My dad, Michael Conway died on 1st May 2020. He’d been In an induced coma for nearly a month. We feel very strongly the lateness of the lockdown is responsible for his death. He was healthy, and still full of life. He was a wonderful dad and grandad. He was planning an adventure for him and our mum to Canada before he got Covid. He died without any of us being there. A nurse stayed with him while we said our goodbyes over the phone to him. Over the phone. He hung on until we’d all said what we wanted to say. Then he slipped away. That was him to a T.

Harbinder                   London          

Covid has devastated my three children’s health as well as their future. It has stolen the joy of living a fulfilling life. We feel abandoned and utterly let down by the government.

Matt     London         

I do not have any risk factor that I know of, but I am a biomedical scientist and know that SARS-CoV-2 can affect anyone long-term. The state should support public health measures and I should not have to handle lack of contamination by myself. Masks in healthcare now, at least!

Natalie             London          

Covid 19 is a mass death and mass disabling event. I lost my father to Covid at the end of 2021 and the current continual denial of the reality of the pandemic makes my grief a hundred times worse.

Julie    Knapman        Berkshire       

My daughter caught COVID in November 2021. Sending our children into school meant we were vulnerable. As expected my son caught COVID from school and it travelled through my household. My son and I have recovered from Long COVID over time but my daughter has remained ill. It has changed her entire life and offers her an uncertain future. It is devastating to see your child go from a passionate dancer, dancing daily with her full life in front of her, to a girl who slept in the dark 24 hours a day as she felt so sick. As you can imagine, this took its toll on our family emotionally. Not only were we coping with an unknown illness but we have had to fight to get her seen and treated seriously.  She has no previous medical or mental health concerns but we faced having to justify sick days off school and had next to no support with studies or treatment. The fight is very real when dealing with schools and the medical profession and we have had to pay to be heard. She is fast becoming an unseen person as COVID is dismissed as yet another cold. Whilst we live in hope that she will get better over time unfortunately for her, her future remains uncertain and support limited without a fight.

Bernadette McNeil     Wakefield       

I lost my dad Carlo McNeil who was only aged 63 in 2021 to Covid and as a family we have struggled to get over this, my dad didn’t die a normal death with his family around him holding his hand, we had to say our goodbyes over a FaceTime call, we then had to have a funeral with only 30 people and only 14 of those could be inside the crematorium the others had to stand outside.  As for people thinking Covid is over it is not, it is still around making people ill and killing people.  The government just want us to forget about it because of their incompetences during the pandemic. 

Krystal                        Lancashire    

Since a virus in 2008, I have been increasingly unwell with severe ME, POTS and MCAS. I’m mostly bedbound and dependent on my husband for care. We have been shielding me for almost 4 years as Covid could significantly worsen my condition permanently, but in a world that has abandoned protections this is becoming increasingly impossible, especially as my husband works in education. Our life was already extremely limited and difficult, now it has become constantly fearful and insecure. We don’t know how long we can protect me for.

Deborah          Cottrell            London          

Sadly I don’t believe anyone of you directly involved in decision making, or indeed the lack of, have any sympathy, understanding or acceptance of what you are responsible for. I hold you all responsible for the loss of my love of my life. 42 years are now gone. We followed all your rules, even though you broke them yourselves. I didn’t get to say goodbye, I love you, or hold him one last time. When he passed half of my heart went with him. And now to watch your callous continued lies is an insult to everyone. My life has changed beyond any recognition and you all sit there like its nothing to you. I feel nothing but contempt for you all. Let the bodies pile high…. You have Blood on your hands forever.

Jenny              North west    

We are not safe to go anywhere anymore, including ICU, even to visit a relative fighting for their life. NHS staff are unmasked and are risking their own health as well as those around them. COVID 19 Mitigations must be put in place now, to prevent more deaths, more disabled people and more people with long term ill health through Long Covid . No more excuses, action is required now. 

Hopkins          UK      

My family are clinically vulnerable and it’s so unsafe for us in the UK. Schools are unmitigated, hospitals full of covid infections. My son waited 20 months for a vaccine and access has been patchy. Nearly four years on and life is harder than ever. The government focus is on mass infections, this isn’t living with covid,  people are still dying every day!  My relative died from COVID at the start and they have learnt nothing, no testing, no masks in healthcare for an airborne virus. Schools unsafe without Airfilters for high risk children. Strains are more immune evasive and vaccines are not enough with breakthrough infections leading to long Covid. Long covid for CEV can mean losing all functionality. This government doesn’t care about our families. What happened to our human rights? Right to ˜feel safe” and ˜be safe”

Alice                Oxfordshire   

I was a vibrant mother, full of life. I contracted Covid in december 2020 and my life was destroyed. I am not better. I am not improving. I am worse with subsequent Infections.   My life is limited to trying to have a walk around my estate, trying to wash my hair, being unable to clean my house, even cook. Life used to be limitless, now it is miniscule. I have been left. There is no support, no reassurance, just demonisation from this government because I am left disabled.   This government did nothing and do nothing but minimise this pandemic and  cost lives and the health of countless people. Now, we are ignored, left alone, left to live fragments of lives. I became ill because schools didn’t close quickly enough, and now you demonise me because I am not contributing to the economy. The government not acting soon enough did this.

Ali                    Leeds

We have an  immunosuppressed family member who is unable to safely access healthcare now.  There are no mitigations in hospitals. He picked up Covid after a hospital procedure and was extremely ill . We were told he would not survive . He remained in hospital for months recovering and is now home but is unable to function as he did before . Ignoring covid / letting it rip is leading to chronic ill health. 

Juliet               Warwickshire            

Sarscov2 is not a historical disease. We need clean air and infection control now. 

Linda               South West   

Covid causes long term disability.  Covid is not over. Please clean the indoor air and wear a mask

Desmond Whyms      Penzance      

The findings from this inquiry are shocking – and those politicians and professionals who have failed us need to face justice.   But this is not just of historical interest – we are all still today living with the damaging consequences.   We need health-care and public spaces to be safer for us all, with cleaner air and effective masks.   And we need urgent attention and research into the damage that Covid infection does, and better treatments for Long Covid.

Norma Scott   Leeds, West Yorkshire         

The most dangerous place an immune compromised person goes to is a healthcare setting where despite the science confirming Covid is Airborne there are no protections against airborne pathogens. Doctors, nurses and patients pretend Covid is over. It isn’t!  Inadequate Government IPC guidance is putting high risk patients in danger every day.  Wear a mask, vaccinate all, give appropriate antivirals in the community and to inpatients with Covid and ventilate all buildings starting with healthcare and schools. Do it now, not in 2026.  Then sack the fools who are putting us in danger.  

Alan                 Leeds 

I have chronic lymphocytic leukaemia. I’m at very high risk of a bad outcome from Covid. I don’t respond to Covid vaccines, I was denied Evusheld and will have to wait another year for an effective monoclonal antibody to make me safer from Covid. I’ve been shielding for 4 years in Jan 2024. If I get Covid, I may get antivirals in the community. They will try to give me molnupiravir but that isn’t very effective, I need Paxlovid. In fact according to a Cancer virologist I need both at the same time. If I am so ill that I have to be admitted the Consultant Haematologist won’t be allowed to give me either Paxlovid  nor Molnupiravir because the NHS won’t allow it, so he will have to fight for my life with one hand tied behind his back. Where is the sense? Covid is not over and Covid is an airborne deadly killer. 

Jo W               Norfolk

We need CLEAN AIR. We need MASKS IN HEALTHCARE. We need better education on AIRBORNE TRANSMISSION. We need support for people to STAY AT HOME WHEN ILL. Then, and only then, will we truly be able to ‘live with Covid’.

Hilda Palmer     Salford

COVID isn’t over, it’s airborne so cleaning the air with ventilation + filtration plus source control and PPE FFP2/3 masking are essential everywhere. Washing hands won’t cut it. We have known this since early 2020, Govt failed, Public and Occupational Health failed then and now. Prevention is the only cure for it now!   

Patricia           Southend on Sea      

On the 21st December it will be the third anniversary of my mother’s death. She, and thousands of others, died as a result of a negligent and incompetent government. We deserve justice for the people who died and for those whose lives have been ruined by bereavement or on-going illness. We also deserve to have safety from a virus which is still circulating and from pandemics which will follow in the future.

Ben Samuel    Burnt Oak      

Thank you for coming out in the cold to say COVID is not over. I have been vaccinated 5 times plus flu but I still wear a good mask.  I have been providing good masks to my colleagues at the United Voices of the World (UVW union). 

Emmi Mehmet            Essex 

We want justice for our beautiful Dad – Ersin Mehmet, he was the most special dad I could ever ask for and did not deserve to die alone whilst they partied! They need to be accountable for their actions! A heartbroken daughter and family 

Susie               Scotland        

Caught Covid end 3/20 still sick, didn’t know what was happening. Still worked though told to isolate due to health problems. I don’t know how I pulled through, I’m more like the living dead over 3 years later. Doc meds don’t work, tests are clear. Meds don’t work. I’m miserable fighting this LC, multiple health problems I never had before covid. Left to suffer. Pit of despair UK life. They’ll freeze us to death, what a disgusting run place.