Families of care home residents banned from visiting their relatives during the Covid pandemic have demanded an official apology.
Campaigners want to know why restrictions were tougher than for other members of the public.
It comes as the judge leading the probe into Scotland's Covid response sets out how the investigation will run.
Alison Leitch, of the Care Home Relatives Scotland group, said: "Why were we treated differently to staff?"
She added: "Hopefully this is never allowed to happen again."
Preliminary hearings at Murrayfield Stadium in Edinburgh on Monday formally opened the inquiry's public evidence gathering.
Hearings
Inquiry chairman Lord Brailsford will tell core participants how the hearings will work.
The Scottish inquiry is separate from the UK Covid Inquiry which began in mid-June.
This week's preliminary sessions will set up the first set of full hearings which will begin in late October.
Those hearings will gather as much evidence as possible on the impact of the Covid-19 response, and of the pandemic itself, on the people of Scotland.
The Scottish inquiry has divided its investigation into three themes: health and social care, education and young people, and business, finance and welfare.
Health and social care will be the focus of the first phase of the process.
Rememberance
Like the UK Covid Inquiry, proceedings opened with a reflective film and a moment of remembrance acknowledging those who lost their lives to the virus.
Just under 227,000 people died in the UK with Covid-19 listed as one of the causes on their death certificate.
This figure covers the pandemic up until May 5, 2023, when the World Health Organisation declared an end to the virus as a "global health emergency".
The Scottish Inquiry will unpack the decisions made by the Scottish Government throughout the pandemic, from introducing lockdown to the delivery of testing and vaccines.
It will also focus on infection control in care homes, including the transfer of patients from hospitals.
On several occasions, Scottish guidance to the public differed to that being given in other parts of the UK.
Access to care homes
The Care Home Relatives Scotland group, which has about 2,000 members, is among those participating in the inquiry. It campaigned throughout the lockdowns for more access to relatives in care homes.
Co-founder Alison Leitch,told the BBC: "We really want to get started with finding out the rationale for what was done to our loved ones and hopefully get an apology and Anne's Law so this is never allowed to happen again."
According to Anne's Law, care home residents would be allowed a named visitor even if restrictions are in place.
Aamer Anwar, lead solicitor for the Scottish Covid Bereaved group, said relatives were likely to be highly critical of progress so far.
He told the BBC: "Our politicians stand accused of presiding over a carousel of chaos and those who lost loved ones refuse to be invisible in their misery, they believed this inquiry would illuminate the truth.
"Over the last year, this inquiry has spent nearly £8million, so the very least the families were entitled to expect was a gold plated, robust and fearless inquiry, no different to the UK inquiry. Sadly, so far, the experience of the bereaved has been a shambolic, third-rate inquiry that looks incapable of delivering the truth and accountability."
Here's what else is happening in politics today:
Scottish Parliament
No scheduled business – Parliament in recess
UK Parliament
No scheduled business – Parliament in recess
Aberdeenshire Council
Today’s business includes:
- Garioch Area Committee
- Buchan Area Committee
Aberdeen City Council
Today’s business includes:
- Net Zero, Environment and Transport Committee