phil mackie, bbc news, coventry. the public inquiry into covid 19 got underway in earnest today with opening hearings in the first stage looking at how prepared the uk was for a pandemic in 2020. the inquiry is expected to continue for several years, looking at many aspects of a virus linked to more than 220 thousand uk deaths. our health editor hugh pym reports. 220,000 uk deaths. our health editor hugh pym reports. ..kathleen power. a roll call for those who lost their lives. bereaved relatives outside the public inquiry today. one of them, bruce, remembers his mother, moira. taken to hospital with a minor health issue, she got covid there and never came home. i feel the fact that i kept reassuring her that she was safe is quite a hard thing to deal with. on the ward of 2a, most of them had contracted covid, and quite a few had actually died.