We’ve got some great news. As a direct results of our campaigning, the inquiry has u-turned and decided it will appoint experts on structural racism to advise them.

On the 28th February we wrote a joint letter to the Covid Inquiry with the Runnymede Trust and other civil society organisations calling for structural racism to be investigated throughout the Inquiry. As a result of that letter and the work of our legal team in the hearing, the inquiry has u-turned on its original decision and decided to appoint experts in structural racism, which was one of our key asks.

As research from the ONS showed, almost all minority ethnic groups died disproportionately from COVID-19. For Bangladeshi men the death rate was 3.1 times greater than that of White British men, followed by Pakistani men (2.3 times) and Black Caribbean men (1.8 times). Meanwhile, the rate for Bangladeshi women was 2.4 times greater than for White British women, followed by Pakistani women (2.1 times), Gypsy or Irish Traveller women (1.8 times).

If the inquiry is going to learn lessons that will save lives in the future, it’s critical that it investigates why there were such shocking differences in the mortality rates between different ethnic groups. Thanks to the your support, we’re a big step closer to that happening. 

Thank you so much for all you’ve done to support the campaign, without it we wouldn’t be able to secure these wins which help mean that lessons are learnt from the pandemic that save lives in the future. 

If you want to continue helping us campaign for the bereaved to be at the heart of the Covid Inquiry, please consider donating to our CrowdFunder here, or sharing it on your social media channels and with friends and family.

Thanks very much,

The families of Covid 19 Bereaved Families for Justice UK