'My dad should still be alive': Grieving daughter reacts to Cummings' evidence
26 May 2021, 15:01 | Updated: 26 May 2021, 15:03
Families For Covid Justice spokesperson speaks to Shelagh
A grieving daughter has told LBC those who have lost a loved one to Covid 'deserve answers' as she reacts to bombshell evidence by Dominic Cummings.
Speaking to LBC's Shelagh Fogarty after a morning of evidence from Boris Johnson's former chief adviser into the government handling of the Covid pandemic Safiah Ngah - Spokesperson for Families for Covid Justice said it had been difficult for her to hear.
She told Shelagh in a way it had helped to hear some of the decisions explained.
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"Dominic Cummings has clearly made a lot of mistakes, but at the very least we want to hear the truth of what's happened and why we're in this situation."
Safiah explained her father, Dr Zahari Awang Ngah, had previously been healthy and then it took just three weeks for him to pass away with Covid.
"We deserve answers," Safiah said.
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Covid-19 Bereaved families for Justice UK, is a group of nearly 4000 bereaved families who are fighting for a Public Inquiry into the government’s handling of the Covid-19 pandemic.
She told LBC she found it "unfortunate" that the information was coming out in this way, branding the committee a "spectacle."
Dominic Cummings has been giving evidence to a group of MPs about the government’s response to coronavirus.
He's accused the health secretary of lying, said the PM didn't think Covid was serious initially, and that there was a delay in announcing the first lockdown because there was no plan in place.
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Safiah explained her whole family was able to be with her father when he died.
She told Shelagh that her brother and she both had to help with shopping during the second wave as they were unable to secure any delivery slots.
"Going into a supermarket was a risky game, and that's where we think we picked it up."
She told LBC "it should never ever have got to that point, my dad should still be alive."
Management of Covid crisis "overall system total failure"
Dominic Cummings has also claimed:
- Senior politicians and officials fell “disastrously short” of what was required of them when the pandemic broke out last year.
- Health Secretary Matt Hancock's claims that the UK was prepared for the pandemic were "basically completely hollow".
- Boris Johnson regarded Covid as a “scare story” and “the new swine flu” in February.
- Allegedly, the PM wanted Chris Whitty to inject him with the virus live on TV to reassure people it was nothing to worry about.
- Mr Cummings says he sent a text message to Mr Johnson on March 12 saying “we’ve got big problems” and urging him to start imposing restrictions but admits he left these interventions “far too late.”
