The daughter of a Norwich man who died after contracting coronavirus met prime minister Boris Johnson, as he committed to appointing someone to head a public inquiry into the pandemic by Christmas.
Jo Goodman, 32, co-founded the Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice group following the death of her father Stuart, 72.
Mr Goodman, who worked as a newspaper photographer and picture editor, died at Norwich and Norfolk University Hospital on April 2 last year.
On Tuesday (September 28), Miss Goodman was one of five bereaved family members who spoke to the prime minister at a private meeting.
Mr Johnson, who in May announced there would be an inquiry next year, told the families he was committed to appointing an inquiry chairperson within three months.
He also said families would have an input into who is chosen and lent his support to the National Covid Memorial Wall, suggesting it could become a permanent national memorial.
Ms Goodman, who now lives in London, said Mr Johnson's commitments to engage with the group were "really positive".
But she said she wanted to see the inquiry chair appointed sooner than Christmas and called for greater urgency to save lives.
The 33-year-old said: "I think we would obviously like to see more of a sense of urgency, I think there's still the sense that the prime minister views the inquiry as something that needs to happen as a kind of post-mortem.
""Whereas we feel - particularly as it's clear that Covid is not going away any time soon, and we're still losing nearly 1,000 people a week - we feel that every day that the inquiry isn't set up is a day that we're potentially losing people in ways that could have been prevented."
Ms Goodman said the group was hearing stories of loss from new members that echoed experiences from the first wave of the pandemic.
She said: "You do feel that you're being almost re-traumatised, because not only is someone telling a story that sounds like your story, but you also know that you've been trying to stop that from happening."
The meeting happened more than a year after Mr Johnson promised to meet those bereaved by the pandemic.
It is understood Mr Johnson did not apologise for the time it had taken to meet the families.
In a meeting that lasted just over an hour and took place outside at the request of the families, those who lost loved ones shared how their family members caught the virus and died.
They said Mr Johnson had told them there was a "clear role for bereaved families in the inquiry", which will start in the spring.
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