5 mins • 20 October 202620 October 2026
Speaking at the Kia Oval in south London following the publication of the Covid inquiry’s sixth report, Jean Adamson delivered a devastating account of her father’s death, calling the government’s pandemic response one of the ‘darkest episodes in our country’s history’.
Adamson, speaking on behalf of Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice UK, condemned former health secretary Matt Hancock’s claims that a ‘protective ring’ had been thrown around care homes, branding the assertion a ‘cruel lie’.
Paying tribute to her late father, Aldrich Adamson – a Windrush pioneer who moved from Barbados to help rebuild postwar Britain – she described the immense pain of only being able to see him through a care home window as he fell ill. He died isolated and alone on 15 April 2020.
Adamson concluded that thousands of care home residents like her father were not just victims of the virus, but victims of ‘government negligence’. Matt Hancock has declined to comment on the report’s findings.