UK government faces legal action over handling of Covid-19 outbreak

PanARMENIAN.Net - The UK government is facing legal action over its handling of the coronavirus pandemic, The Telegraph reports.

The family of an NHS pharmacist who died from Covid -19 will lodge a civil claim alleging that health secretary Matt Hancock and Public Health England breached their statutory duty in key decisions made about the spread of coronavirus in the UK.

Court proceedings will soon commence over the claim that the health secretary breached both the Human Rights Act and the NHS Act 2006.

So far attempts to hold the Government to account through the courts have been unsuccessful, with several judicial review applications failing to challenge the lawfulness of decisions, such moving coronavirus patients into care homes.

This latest case is being pursued by Dr Minesh Talati, a dentist from London, after his father Navin, an NHS pharmacist for more than 45 years, died from coronavirus in April.

His lawyers argue that the action is necessary given “the lives at risk and that Parliament is unable to hold the Government to account at this time”.

Dr Talati said: “We, as an island nation, have endured the second highest mortality in the world and highest in Europe even though we started well behind Italy and Spain. I ask myself, what went wrong?”

In a pre-action legal letter sent to the Department of Health and Social Care this month, Dr Talati’s lawyers argued that there were a number of errors made by the Health Secretary in regards to the death of his father.

The letter alleged that pursuing policies such as herd immunity was a “flagrant violation of the state’s responsibilities to its citizens”.

The letter asks for scientific advice, the Strategic Advisory Group of Experts (Sage) meetings, policy decisions and briefings on Covid-19 to be made available.