Was Test, Trace and Isolate fit for purpose? Module 7 of the Covid-19 Inquiry opens.

Module 7 of the Covid-19 Inquiry formally opened on 11 May 2025. This Module will investigate the adequacy of the different test, trace and isolate (“TTI”) policies and strategies across the United Kingdom during the pandemic, and their impact. The Module 7 oral hearings will take place between 12 May 2025 – 30 May 2025.

The public hearings began as usual with a short impact film, shown to contextualise the purpose of these hearings by means of individual stories and experiences of those impacted by the pandemic.

Following opening statements delivered by Counsel to the Inquiry and Core Participants, the first witnesses were called to give oral evidence.

Saunders Law represents the Federation of Ethnic Minority healthcare Organisations (“FEMHO”) in the Covid Inquiry, and the group is one of the few non-State Core Participants in this Module. FEMHO has serious concerns about the manner in which TTI policies and strategies were developed and then implemented, specifically due to their adverse impact on those from minority ethnic backgrounds.

Leslie Thomas KC gave made oral submissions yesterday at the Inquiry’s hearings on behalf of FEMHO. In his submissions, Mr Thomas KC outlined FEMHO members’ lived experiences of the disproportionate impact of the TTI system and their inability to feed back their observations to government. Mr Thomas KC highlighted issues with the availability of tests, the lack of culturally competent communication around TTI, the inadequacy of data, the disproportionate enforcement of the TTI polices on minority ethnic communities, as well as the disproportionate impact of isolation policies of minority ethnic communities. Mr Thomas KC made clear that the possibility of compounding pre-existing heath inequalities was foreseeable and implored the Inquiry to investigate whether this foreseeability was adequately appreciated and factored in when developing and implementing TTI polices.

One of the key purposes of public inquiries is to learn lessons. As such, FEMHO hopes that the Inquiry will thoroughly investigate the steps taken by government to mitigate unequal impacts of their own policies across groups, especially those most vulnerable, to ensure that similar outcomes do not happen in future pandemics.

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