Residents of the European countries most affected by the coronavirus want to investigate the actions of the authorities and understand if everything was done to prevent deaths from the epidemic. The relatives of those who died from Covid-19 in Italy, Great Britain, France, and Spain have taken the initiative. In all four cases, relatives say the quarantine should have been imposed earlier than the authorities did.
Relatives of 450 British citizens who have died from the coronavirus are calling for an immediate public inquiry into the government’s handling of the pandemic. They believe such an inquiry could save many lives as the epidemic continues in the UK due to the ineffectiveness of the authorities. In May, the families of those who died in Spain filed a lawsuit against Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, and in early June, the Paris prosecutor’s office announced that it would examine whether the government’s response to the pandemic falls under articles on involuntary manslaughter and endangering human life. In Italy, 50 relatives of coronavirus victims filed an official complaint against the authorities a few days ago, accusing them of negligence and improper actions during the height of the pandemic. They filed a collective complaint with the public prosecutor’s office in Bergamo because, as the group’s initiator, Stefano Fusco, explained, this city has become a sad symbol of the tragedy for all of Italy.
Relatives of the deceased in Italy believe that quarantine should have been imposed in Bergamo and other major epicenters of the coronavirus outbreak sooner than the authorities did. In particular, much of the Lombardy region was still open at a time when it was already clear that the virus had spread beyond the “red zone” cities. The coronavirus began to spread throughout Europe from Lombardy, and more than half of all deaths in Italy are attributed to this region. In total, 34.1 thousand people have died from Covid-19 in Italy. On Friday, the prosecutor will question Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte, as well as Interior Minister Luciana Lamorgese and Health Minister Roberto Speranza. Conte previously said he had nothing to fear.
“50 separate complaints have been filed with the Bergamo Public Prosecutor’s Office, which will be considered as part of a single case”. Paris prosecutor Rémi Heitz said this week that the investigation was prompted by numerous complaints from citizens and insisted it was not politically motivated. The prosecutor’s office will examine the actions of officials who made decisions about how to respond to the outbreak. Parisians complain that social distancing measures were not introduced quickly enough in workplaces, that masks were not made available to citizens and that not enough tests were carried out. The investigation will target several government institutions based in Paris, which are therefore under the jurisdiction of the Paris prosecutor’s office. President Emmanuel Macron has immunity from prosecution. The Covid-19 pandemic has killed more than 29,000 people in France.
Relatives of the deceased in Spain also believe that Pedro Sanchez and the 22 ministers did not react quickly and delayed the quarantine restrictions. In Spain, 27.1 thousand people have died from the coronavirus. In Britain – the country hardest hit by Covid-19 in Europe – families of the deceased are demanding an assessment of how prepared the country’s National Health Service (NHS) and social services were for the pandemic. The official petition for an open inquiry mentions that at the peak of the epidemic, more than 25,000 patients were discharged from hospitals back to nursing homes, but it is unknown how many of them were carriers of the coronavirus because no one checked.
The families are represented by lawyer Elkan Abrahmson, who said that the hearings would definitely take place, but at a later date. The government claims that all its attention is currently focused on fighting the epidemic. However, a group called “Families of the Deceased for Justice” insists that they will not tolerate any delay. According to them, only immediate intervention in the authorities’ actions can prevent further victims. According to Johns Hopkins University, the United Kingdom ranks fifth in the world in terms of the number of infected people (292.8 thousand) and second in terms of mortality (41.4 thousand). In Europe, it is the country most affected by Covid-19.
At the beginning of the epidemic, thousands of elderly patients were discharged from hospitals and returned to nursing homes without Covid-19 testing to make room. The chairman of the Health and Social Care Committee, Jeremy Hunt, agrees with the plaintiffs. He said it was outrageous that no one had thought to assess the risks to nursing homes. “By then, it was well known that some people remain asymptomatic when infected with the virus. Germany and Hong Kong took steps to protect their social institutions, while we did not during this critical period of the epidemic,” Hunt said. But the Department of Health and Human Services insists it made the right decision at the right time.
The British authorities insist that all decisions related to the pandemic have been based on the expertise of the scientific community. But Jamie Brown, the son of one of the British citizens who died, says the decision to lock down the country on March 23 came too late. His father died of coronavirus in hospital on March 29, two and a half weeks after taking a train into central London. According to Brown, his father’s death could have been prevented: “I’m sure if the lockdown had been implemented earlier, the chances of my father getting infected would have been much lower.” Jamie Brown is convinced that his father was killed by the government’s advice to stay at home, which prevented them from seeking help in time: “We need to understand as soon as possible what went wrong and how we all ended up in this situation.”
In the UK, clothing stores will open on June 15. Many consider this to be premature, as the epidemiological situation in the country is the worst in Europe. “It is expected that there will be a second wave of infections, and we want to know what the government intends to do when that happens,” says lawyer Elkan Abrahmson. According to him, it would be desirable to understand what scientific expertise, to which the authorities like to refer, underlies the decision to open schools and remove additional restrictions. “One day in the future, we will have the opportunity to look back, analyze [our actions], and draw important lessons. But for now, the most important thing is to focus on the current situation,” the government official said.