‘A despicable lie!’ Dr Cathy Gardner blasts Tories as High Court rules that they broke the law

The High Court has ruled that the government broke the law by failing to protect more than 20,000 elderly or disabled care home residents who died after contracting COVID-19.

Government policies on discharging patients from hospitals to care homes at the outset of the pandemic were “unlawful” because they failed to take into account the risk to elderly and vulnerable residents from non-symptomatic transmission of COVID, High Court judges have ruled.

The case was brought forward by Dr Cathy Gardner and Fay Harris whose fathers Michael Gibson and Donald Harris died after testing positive for coronavirus.

Dr Cathy Gardner, has said the government’s claim that a “protective ring” had been thrown around residents at the beginning of the pandemic was “a despicable lie”.

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Related: Care homes: Every death ‘weighs heavily on me’ says Hancock as thread ‘proves’ he lied during pandemic.