Families from Merseyside who've lost loved ones during the pandemic today called on the government to hold an immediate first phase of a public inquiry.
The campaign group Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice now represents more than 2,500 people and they have repeatedly asked for a meeting for Boris Johnson.
So far, that has been denied six times, which the collective have described as "hurtful and pretty disgraceful," as they push for a judge-led independent coronavirus inquiry.
Relatives from Merseyside are among the group and include Patricia Withers, who lost her mum to the virus, and Jamie Mawson, who believes his dad fatally caught coronavirus after attending the controversially-held Liverpool v Atletico Madrid match.
Jamie is part of the "Massed Events" section of the group, that will concentrate on the much-criticised decision to press ahead with large-scale sporting events in the UK, just before lockdown, like the Anfield game and the Cheltenham Festival.
The 49-year-old told the ECHO: "My dad, Richard, attended the Atletico game, and four weeks later he died with Covid-19.
"Those Madrid fans should not have been allowed to travel to Liverpool as Spain was in partial lockdown and Madrid was the worst affected city.
"A week before, Atletico played behind closed doors.
"This government allowed 3,000 Spanish supporters into our city which spread the infection.
"People ask me if I believe this government is accountable for my father's death, and I say, 'yes, they are.'
"There's been too many mistakes along the way, and they are still getting it wrong as we speak.
"I really hope the vaccines are the game-changers, but for me, and many others who have lost loved ones, it's too little too late."
Recently, Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice slammed the Prime Minister for his refusal to meet with them.
Co-founder Jo Goodman, who lost her 72-year-old dad Stuart to the virus, said: "It's right that the Prime Minister is finally meeting with bereaved families, their stories must be heard.
"It's a shame it took him almost a year.
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"But it's not only hurtful, but pretty disgraceful, that the Prime Minister has refused six times to meet with our group - one of the largest groups of bereaved families in the UK - just because we have serious questions about how his government is planning to learn lessons and save lives.
"It feels like we're the wrong kind of bereaved people.
"He even blamed a fictional legal case to avoid meeting us.
"If the Prime Minister still won't meet with us, the least he can do is get the ball rolling on a statutory public inquiry so that he doesn't repeat the same mistakes that cost so many lives this winter."
Also part of the group is Mrs Withers, who lost her 91-year-old mum Elizabeth to the virus.
She died at Southport Hospital after picking up coronavirus in a care home where she lived in Southport.
Elizabeth "Lil" Newsome, who was blind, went into hospital on Easter Monday and tested positive two days later.
After initially rallying, the former Echo Mum of the Year finalist sadly died almost a fortnight later on April 25 of Covid-19 and Type 2 diabetes, with the virus listed first on the death certificate.
Mrs Withers told the ECHO: "Can this government look us in the eye and tell us they did their best?
"They've been useless, there's been s many mistakes - nursing staff aren't looked after properly, lockdown in tiers was wrong...
"There needs to be a public enquiry, and a very open one, not a secret squirrel one.
"Boris Johnson and his team have done far from their best."
Part of the campaign group is leading Liverpool lawyer Elkan Abrahamson, from Broudie Jackson Canter, who was a prominent figure in the Hillsborough fight for justice.
He was at the forefront of a pre-action letter has been sent to Prime Minister Boris Johnson and Health Secretary Matt Hancock after Westminster's initial refusals to meet to discuss a call for an immediate public enquiry.
Mr Mawson, from Formby, added: "There will come a day when Boris Johnson will have to give answers.
"As a family, we've had good support from Steve Rotheram, Joe Anderson and Matt Ashton.
"I've had a call recently from a man whose wife travelled by train from London to Liverpool before the Atletico match, and she saw hundreds of Spanish fans on board, not one seat left, all piling first class, sitting on the floor, everywhere.
"My dad went to the game for 63 years, and made the same journey from his house in Kirkdale, through Stanley Park, around Anfield Road and to the Kenny Dalglish stand.
"But unfortunately he had to pass the Madrid fans, and that's when we believe he caught it.
"I had 49 fantastic years with him, he was a fit and healthy man and it's heartbreaking the way he went."
In a mission statement, Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice say: "The government has agreed to order an enquiry down the line, and that’s the right thing to do.
"But to get real answers we absolutely need an independent and judge-led statutory public inquiry - where the government doesn’t get to mark its own homework.
"And an inquiry that reports its findings in a year or so won’t save lives in the coming months.
"So it’s critical that it has an urgent first phase which reports back quickly so that the lessons can be applied immediately and prevent deaths as the virus spikes again."
