Boris Johnson`s apologies over COVID-19 pandemic handling met with signs of `dead can`t hear`. Watch! – WION

Former British Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Wednesday (December 6) gave his most explicit apology for his government's handling of the coronavirus pandemic. Speaking at the United Kingdom's public COVID-19 inquiry, he said that his government had been too complacent and "vastly underestimated" the risks posed by the deadly virus.

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However, his attempts to apologise were met by heckling from demonstrators, who lost their loved ones during the COVID-19 pandemic.

CNN, citing the UK's PA Media news agency, reports that as Johnson began to say his apologies, four people holding signs "the dead can't hear your apologies" stood up.

Also read |Boris Johnson says 'deeply sorry' to families of Covid victims at inquiry into Britain's handling of pandemic

One of them, Kathryn Butcher, who lost her sister-in-law Myrna Saunders to Covid, told the UK news agency: "We didn't want his apology. When he tried to apologise, we stood up. We didn't block anybody. We were told to sit down."

Videos of people heckling him as he left the courtroom are circulating on social media, where people can be heard shouting at him.

Overcome with emotions as he gave evidence, Johnson described 2020 as a "tragic, tragic year".

He said that at first, COVID-19 appeared as a "cloud on the horizon" and not the "typhoon" that killed more than 230,000 people in Britain.

As per the ex-prime minister, initially, he had trouble believing the forecast of fatalities, especially given previous scares like the swine flu pandemic and mad cow disease.

However, he admitted that he had only read minutes of the government's key scientific advisory groups on multiple occasions.

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Despite that, he denied that he was indecisive, and said there were constant, conflicting arguments between ministers and officials about Covid response. He also said that senior ministers were more reluctant than him to impose restrictions on public movement.

"Can I say that I understand the feelings of the victims and their families, and I am deeply sorry for the pain and the loss and the suffering," he said.

Dismissing the apologies, Aamer Anwar, the solicitor representing some bereaved families, said that Boris Johnson oversaw "a deadly culture of impunity, incompetence". He also alleged that the former PM treated people like "toxic waste".

(With inputs from agencies)

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Boris Johnson`s apologies over COVID-19 pandemic handling met with signs of `dead can`t hear`. Watch! - WION