TWO women whose fathers died from Covid-19 began a High Court fight today, accusing the government of failing to protect care home residents during the pandemic.

Cathy Gardner and Fay Harris have taken legal action against Health Secretary Sajid Javid, NHS England and Public Health England and want declarations that unlawful decisions were made.

Two judges began overseeing a hearing, which is due to last six days, at the High Court in London on Monday.

A barrister representing the two women told Lord Justice Bean and Mr Justice Garnham that between March and June 2020, when Matt Hancock was health secretary, more than 20,000 elderly or disabled care home residents had died from Covid-19 in England and Wales.

Jason Coppel QC said that he fathers of Ms Gardner and Ms Harris were part of that “toll.”

“The care home population was known to be uniquely vulnerable to being killed or seriously harmed by Covid-19,” said Mr Coppel in a written case outline.

“The government’s failure to protect it, and positive steps taken by the government which introduced Covid-19 infection into care homes, represent one of the most egregious and devastating policy failures in the modern era.”

Mr Coppel told judges: “That death toll should not and need not have happened.

“Put together, the various policies were a recipe for disaster and disaster is what happened.”

Mr Coppel said that other countries, particularly in the Far East, had shown the way to safeguard residents by stopping the virus getting into care homes.

“This claim is a legal challenge to the government’s failure to protect care home residents and to the key policies and decisions which led to the shocking death toll,” he said.

“The most notorious of these policies is that of mass discharge of around 25,000 elderly or disabled patients from NHS hospitals into care homes, including the homes of the claimants’ fathers, without Covid-19 testing or ensuring that suitable isolation arrangements were in place.”

Sir James Eadie QC, who is representing Mr Javid and Public Health England, told judges, in a written case outline, that the women’s claim should be dismissed.

Lawyers representing Mr Javid, NHS England and Public Health England are fighting the claim.