As a NHS healthcare provider I have been personally affected by Covid-19 having contracted the virus. My pregnant wife and elderly parents were also infected. My father, an NHS pharmacist for over 45 years, Mr Navin S Talati passed away on 18^thApril 2020 with Covid-19 viral pneumonia.

This could all have been avoided if the Government had taken appropriate action earlier and had ensured that its citizens had been informed of the true extent of this outbreak rather than misleading the nation.

Summary 

Coronavirus is a disaster that we should have been prepared for, because it was expected. If the government had acted earlier in their response to Covid-19 thousands of lives would have been saved. The state had not done all that is required of it to prevent our lives from being avoidably put at risk.

I am intending to hold the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care to account in the Courts and take legal action on the basis that the Secretary of State and the executive agency Public Health England has failed to comply with their duties under article 2 of the Human Rights Act. The Secretary of State did not do all that could reasonably be expected of him to avoid a real and immediate risk to life of which they had knowledge. 

The Secretary of State did too little, too late, and continues to be in breach of these obligations. Given the lives at risk and that Parliament is unable to hold the Government to account at this time, I am seeking the intervention of the Courts.

What are we trying to achieve? 

The government cannot avoid responsibility. Ministers say they took “the right decisions at the right times”. Yet the evidence of community transmission as early as 10^th February 2020 was presented but ignored costing thousands of lives. 

There was no transparency to the public in February 2020 about the impending public health catastrophe. If the government had acted earlier many lives would have been saved. 

Keeping the airports open and allowing people to enter freely from infected countries  without quarantine measures has had disastrous consequences. PHE halted mass testing on 12 March, with no scientific explanation for doing so. Even before that date, PHE was not testing in the community and failed to heed the scientific advice given. 

This case is primarily a public interest case highlighting the cover-ups and lack of transparency from the UK government. This case will enable us to hold the government to account for their Covid-19 preparations and management and the thousands of deaths that could have been avoided like my father's. 

What is the next step in the case? 

I am forming an action group to launch legal action on behalf of all those who have suffered and lost loved ones as a consequence of the failures of the government to restrict the spread of coronavirus. I believe that together we can hold the government to account. 

I have instructed the law firm Gunnercooke LLP to act to raise these important issues directly with the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care and Public Health England and my legal team led by Mr Sunil Abeyewickreme, will commence legal action in the High Court, to ensure that the Secretary of State is required to comply with his duties under Article 2 thereby preventing a catastrophic second wave.

How much we are raising and why? 

We have an initial target of £50,000 but we will need to raise more funds to cover court fees, legal fees and any other liabilities that may result from this case. Together we can make our voice heard and hold the government to account. 

Whilst we have sought advice from Dr Vikram Sachdeva QC and Gethin Thomas, the leading human rights counsel who have assisted us in drafting a letter of claim, it will be necessary for our legal team to appear before the High Court to ensure the Government is held to account and that it never repeats its neglectful acts and omissions in respect of its obligations to protect the public and save lives. 

What you can do? 

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