Covid deaths in Wales exacerbated by late restrictions, inquiry finds

"...we remember the immense loss and suffering of so many people due to Covid-19. Today, our thoughts must first and foremost be with them." I disagree with the First Minister. Now is the time to direct our attention to those criticised in the report.

Although I agree there should be a Wales-only enquiry. The initial mistake was the Welsh Labour government following Whitehall's lead rather than it own plan of action. But I can understand why. There could have been agreement between the four nations tailoring any Covid response to each affected but arrogant Whitehall was adamant, like with Brexit negotiations, that England was in control and it would be an English one-size-fits-all approach. Here's an example of Whitehall arrogance. Who can recall when Liverpool was a Covid virus hotspot. The Welsh Government asked Boris Johnson to close the border and to be in lockstep with Wales Covid rules but he flatly refused allowing those from the NW of England to cross the border spreading the virus into Wales. And less we forget. Welsh Conservative Andrew RT Davies , that font of wisdom, some say fart, who argued Wales should have followed England Covid rules which would have made the situation far worse seeing the dire failures admitted by Boris Johnson idocracy in London. Who can recall early in the pandemic the UK Tory Government advice followed by the Welsh Government when it was suggested Covid patients in hospitals be sent to care homes resulting in the deaths of tens of thousands. When Boris Johnson admitted to shaking the hands of Covid patients live on TV. What about his ignoring of scientific advice by opening up England for business only to go back into lockdown shortly after when the virus spread out of control. The 2020 VE Day street party celebrations at the height of the pandemic even though there was no Covid 19 vaccine developed. Chancellor Rishi Sunak's "Eat out for £10" superspreader that no doubt resulted in thousands of deaths. All this announced on TV to Welsh viewers. Sadly we watch and consume largely English newspapers ect... no wonder there was confusion? As said , the "British" media was at fault too. They were well aware of devolution but the BBC, Sky News & ITV largely sidelined Wales Covid rules opting to focus mainly on England & Scotland's Covid announcements on network TV muddying the water further Unfortunately it doesn't help that both English Labour & Conservative governments are hostile towards the devolution of broadcasting to Cardiff. And I know why. They know an educated nation is an independent one. Covid was a prime example of that.

What a waste of money. The experts were saying this from day one, that we locked down too late, indeed all the modelling said as much... many experts on the news saying that we had already lost control and we were more or less just in damage limitation mode. There is only one reason for this. The UK does not have contingency plans in place, there is no plan about how to deal with a pandemic in the future, never mind the resources to sustain that plan. The same goes for any other disasters. We don't store gas for emergencies (we should), we have extremely limited flooding protections that barely cope with a slightly above average rainfall. We can't even feed ourselves. Imagine what would happen if the UK had a drought one year, making all the crops non-viable, we don't have food stores any more, they were sold off. Sadly nothing will come of this, how do I know this? Let me just point to every inquiry after every disaster to date. Does the east coast have protections from hurricane force storms? Nope. Does Boscastle have a new water and sewerage management system? No. Has anyone done anything to mitigate the now routine droughts in Kent? Lmao. What happens when snow hits the ground? Not a lot someone might run a gritter over the dual carriage ways and if you're really fortunate the busiest roads, often refusing to actually clear the snow let alone residential areas. Perhaps more recently... what happens if the Binmen go on strike for weeks, even months? Do neighbouring councils step in to mitigate the public health damage and bill the offending council extra? Nope. Do Council's have a contingency fund for such things.... ... apparently we're supposed to be proud to be British. Edit: Fwiw, I don't think those in government at the time making the decisions on the fly were doing anything less than their best. Or as well as anyone could do with zero pre-pandemic preparation or contingency plans and an underfunded NHS and Social Care service.