The Guardian view on coronavirus: as deaths mount, so do questions | Editorial
The bleakest fortnight lies ahead, with the number of victims expected to keep rising. Ministers must answer for the decisions that led here
"How long do I have?" replied Intisar Chowdhury, when asked on the radio how he would like his father, a doctor, to be remembered. Abdul Mabud Chowdhury, who was 53, died this week at Queen's hospital in Romford, east London, two weeks after being taken to hospital with coronavirus - and three weeks after appealing directly to the prime minister on Facebook for more personal protective equipment (PPE) for medical staff, and fast-track access to testing.
It is not only by his son, wife and 11-year-old daughter that Mr Chowdhury, who was a consultant, deserves to be remembered as a hero. But as UK deaths continue to mount - the official tally is now around 9,000, with up to 1,000 people who have died in care homes yet to be added - the tens of thousands who are mourning a close family member, and many others who have lost a friend, colleague or neighbour, are too occupied with private grief to demand a public accounting.
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