Health Secretary apologized for message critics called insulting to Covid-19 victims
Sajid Javid tweeted about his recovery from the virus on Saturday, urging people to make sure they were vaccinated.
He wrote: “Full recovery from Covid one week after testing positive. Symptoms were very mild, thanks to amazing vaccines. Please – if you haven’t already – get your jab, then that we learn to live with, rather than curl up from, this virus. “
Read more:Sajid Javid ‘insulted’ Covid victims in ‘despicable’ tweet, critics say
The word ‘curl up’ has been used by many to suggest that efforts to avoid spreading the virus have been cowardly and taken in fear, with many people on Twitter sharing personal experiences of grieving over Covid-19 and expressing their fury.
The Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice campaign group condemned the “deeply insensitive” comments, saying in a statement: “Not only are they hurting bereaved families, implying that our loved ones were too cowardly to fight the virus, but they still insult anyone who does their best to protect others from the devastation this horrific virus can bring.
“Words matter and the flippancy and recklessness of this comment has caused a deep wound and further muddied the waters of the government’s dangerously mixed messages.
“We hope the Secretary of Health finds time to meet with us and others who have lost loved ones to Covid-19 so that we can explain why these comments are so hurtful.
“To that end, we will write to Sajid Javid asking him to walk with us on the National Covid Memorial Wall to hear and learn from our experiences. “
Mr Javid deleted his tweet on Sunday, sharing a statement that read: “I deleted a tweet that used the word ‘curl up.’ I expressed my gratitude that vaccines are helping us fight as a society, but it was a poor choice of word and I sincerely apologize for it.
“Like many, I have lost loved ones to this horrific virus and I will never minimize its impact.”
The campaign group said: “It is true that Sajid Javid deleted this tweet and apologized.
“Our demand that he walk with us on the national Covid memorial wall to understand the hurt and the insult that his bad word choice remains.”
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