A group of 30 claims – which are being managed concurrently – blames ministers including Matt Hancock for failing to stop the virus entering elderly homes at the start of the pandemic.

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They have filed claims for loss of life, personal injuries, pain and suffering, anxiety, distress and feelings of injustice.

The cases allege the government’s decision in March 2020 to rapidly discharge hospital patients into care homes without testing put OAPs at risk.

Last year the High Court ruled the policy was unlawful as it failed to consider that Covid could be transmitted by people without symptoms.

Representing the families, Emma Jones, partner at Leigh Day solicitors, said: “We hope that through bringing these cases there will be a full and thorough investigation into the deaths, which might help our clients to feel they have obtained justice for their loved ones.”

Mr Hancock – who resigned in June 2021 after we exposed his rule-breaking affair – previously claimed the government had “thrown a protective ring around care homes” during the early months of the outbreak.

But almost 20,000 care home residents in England and Wales died of Covid between March and June 2020.

A Department of Health spokesman insisted: “We provided billions of pounds to support the sector, including on infection and prevention control, free PPE and priority vaccinations, with the vast majority of eligible care staff and residents receiving vaccinations.”