LCK In The News

The Independent reports on the first day of Module 2 of the UK Covid-19 Enquiry. Anthony Metzer KC, speaking on behalf of Long Covid Kids, Long Covid SOS and Long Covid Support, told the inquiry that Mr Johnson initially “denied the truth of the suffering” of long Covid patients.
“In October 2020, while the Department of Health and Social Care was publishing guidance on long Covid and called for recognition and support for people with long Covid, then Prime Minister Boris Johnson scrawled in capitals that long Covid was ‘bollocks’.
It is perhaps noticeable that the former Prime Minister now accepts that long Covid is a serious health condition, but does not say when he changed his mind.
"The UK’s senior most decision makers were dismissing, diminishing and disbelieving the very existence and risk of long Covid.”

Pixie, now 13, told The Press: "It's been horrible. I have never really got better since I got Covid two years ago. It's annoying not doing everything my friends can do." She said the lack of treatments left her feeling hopeless. "They don't know anything to give us".
Pixie's Mum, Mary, would like more to be done for long Covid patients - and for the public to be more understanding.

Sammie McFarland, Long Covid Kids CEO, submitted a written witness statement to the UK Covid Inquiry on behalf of the children and families she supports.
"Thousands of children have suffered various degrees of life changing and long term harm to health. The importance of their voices to this Inquiry can not be understated. To my mind, these children have suffered twice over; from both the direct and indirect impacts of the pandemic".

The next generation has also been vocal in the condemnation of their exclusion from Module 4. In 2021 Long Covid Kids is currently supporting 11,000 families.
The charity's CEO, Sammie McFarland said: "We are livid. Even today, the public remains insufficiently informed about the profound risks associated with Long Covid-a nuanced, life-altering condition that is preventable. The denial of representation to the Long Covid Group in Module 4, which advocates for almost two million adults and children in the UK affected by Long Covid, perpetuates the enduring inequalities faced by countless families."
Jeremy Rossman, a Senior Lecturer in Virology at the University of Kent and Chairman of Long Covid Kids said that despite the disappointment of not being able to represent the voices of the children and families affected by Long Covid in this important module, the charity would continue to tell their story in Modules 2 and 3 and though its independent advocacy work.

Jane Ryan - a partner at the law firm Bhatt Murphy which specialises in defending civil liberties and represented the Long Covid Group in Modules 2 and 3 of the Covid-19 Inquiry - said: “In my view the decision shows the massive inequality of arms between ordinary members of the public seeking accountability for long term damage to their health from COVID-19 and the Government."
“Unlike Rishi Sunak and the Cabinet Office my clients do not have the financial resources to take the COVID-19 Inquiry to Court to review the decision. It is imperative that the COVID-19 Inquiry properly considers through out every aspect of its investigation the long-term harm done by COVID-19. To avoid and minimise Long Covid is an error the Government made throughout the pandemic resulting in devastating long-term harm to the health of thousands of people in the UK. Those shameful mistakes should not be repeated by the Inquiry: Long Covid should be central to the investigation throughout.”