COVID inquiry first preliminary hearing begins

As reported by the BBC, the first preliminary hearing of the UK COVID public inquiry has begun

The one-day hearing had originally been scheduled last month but was delayed after the death of Queen Elizabeth II.

The session, in London, is focusing on the UK’s pandemic preparedness before 2020.

At this stage, it involves lawyers and an announcement about who will be giving evidence. Public hearings where witnesses are called will not start until the spring.

The inquiry formally started in the summer, with a listening exercise.

But this first preliminary hearing is still being seen as an important milestone for the families who lost loved ones.

Chaired by former High Court judge Baroness Hallett, the inquiry is so wide ranging it has had to be split into separate sections – or modules, as they are being called.

The content of the first three has been announced:

• planning and preparedness
• political decision-making
• health care

The topics of further modules will be announced in 2023.

They are likely to cover issues such as:

• vaccines
• the care sector
• government procurement
• test-and-trace
• business and finance
• devolution
• education
• health inequalities

The preliminary hearing for module two – political decision-making at the start of the pandemic between January and March 2020, including the timing of the first lockdown – is expected to be in November

Public hearings for module one are expected to start in the spring and then for module two later in 2023.

The inquiry can compel witnesses to give evidence and release documents but cannot prosecute or fine anyone.