'This isn't living with Covid, it's ignoring it': Bereaved criticise end of free testing and masks as deaths pass 200,000

manchestereveningnews.co.uk:

A man who lost his grandmother to Covid-19 criticised the axing of free testing and other measures as he called the terrible milestone of 200,000 deaths in the UK 'absolutely heart-rending and tragic'.

Barrister Amos Waldman, 42, said he feels grief, upset and anger at the death toll, and said a public inquiry into the pandemic must start 'as soon as possible'. Mr Waldman said it was 'just absolutely shocking to see that the same mistakes really have been repeated throughout'.

"So far the Government is completely unable to learn any lessons," he added.

A total of 200,247 people in the UK have had Covid-19 recorded on their death certificate since the pandemic began, according to the Office for National Statistics (ONS). Mr Waldman's grandmother, Sheila Lamb, 94, who moved into a care home in March 2020, died with the virus just weeks later on April 2.

READ MORE: Support worker who 'really enjoyed helping people' took his own life after being suspended from job

Mr Waldman, from Stockport, a member of the Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice group, said it was 'difficult to put into words how traumatic it was', and said the current high prevalence of cases was causing bereaved families like his to 'relive some of that trauma'.

He told the PA news agency: "It’s absolutely heart-rending and tragic that we’re in this position. Initially, Patrick Vallance described in a select committee what a good result would be – 20,000 deaths. So, it's just mind-blowing that we've exceeded that so much. And it is possible with relatively simple measures to keep transmission low."

Mr Waldman, who has an immune condition, described removing masks in hospitals as 'appalling' and criticised the decision to end free testing. He said: