'Lessons need to be learnt' as report into care homes during Covid published

Martina Ferguson, pictured in 2025, says the report has "reopened, wounds for many families here in Northern Ireland"

Lessons need to be learned after an inquiry found that government failings in care settings allowed the spread of Covid, a woman whose mother died during the pandemic has said.

The sixth report from the Covid inquiry, which was published on Tuesday, said the care sector appeared to be "something of an afterthought" in the early stages of the pandemic and there was no "protective ring" put around homes as claimed by ministers at the time.

There were more than 43,000 recorded deaths involving Covid in care homes between March 2020 and July 2022.

Martina Ferguson, whose mother Ursula Derry died during the coronavirus pandemic, said "we need to learn from what's happened".

She said the report has "reopened, wounds for many families here in Northern Ireland".

"Many families in our bereaved group were prevented from being with loved ones when they were at their most vulnerable, you know, they stood outside windows trying to communicate through a glass.

"I did that for nine months when my mummy was in her care home."

Source: BBC News Health RSS (Open Press / Translated Full Text)