Two Conservative members of the Senedd have quit its COVID committee over a row about taking the oath. The Wales COVID-19 inquiry special purpose committee was set up by politicians in Cardiff Bay to fill any "gaps" in the UK-wide inquiry's scrutiny of decisions made by the Welsh government. Tom Giffard said he had resigned as co-chair of the committee after Welsh Labour members voted against an amendment which would have allowed witnesses, including ministers, to give evidence under oath. Fellow Conservative Senedd member Sam Rowlands has also stepped down from the committee. In a statement, Mr Giffard said that he had resigned "with a heavy heart" and that the Welsh Conservatives would "no longer engage with the committee". "Families who lost loved ones deserve honest answers, yet Labour's decision … 阅读全文

Bereaved families and communities nationwide have come together to reflect on and mark the fifth anniversary of the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Events have been taking place across the UK to remember those who died - and to pay tribute to frontline health staff, social care workers, volunteers and researchers who played crucial roles. There were emotional scenes in towns and cities across England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland as the pain, grief, compassion and sacrifice of those difficult times were remembered. Image: A ceremony was held at the National Covid Memorial Wall in central London. Pic: PA Image: A ceremony was held at the National Covid Memorial Wall in central London. Pic: PA Image: Bereaved families and communities gathered to remember those who died. Pic: PA Image: Bereaved … 阅读全文

From the top of Bwlch Mountain, the sun is shining, there's not a cloud in the sky and we can see for miles down the Welsh Valleys. I am sat with Bev Johnson, who, back in 2021 along with other locals bereaved by COVID-19, built a huge heart out of stone on the side of this hill overlooking Treorchy and Pentre. Image: On the side of Bwlch Mountain, a huge stone heart was built by locals who lost loved ones to COVID-19 Image: On the side of Bwlch Mountain, a huge stone heart was built by locals who lost loved ones to COVID-19 "It was just somewhere for people to go - for them to grieve and to remember - because no one had anywhere to go," she tells me. … 阅读全文

Mark Hammersley is a survivor. Standing in the Welsh sun, smiling broadly with an outreaching hand to welcome me, he looks the picture of good health.  There is no sign of the trauma. Or the desperate battle for life he fought and won. Image: Mark Hammersley, who was treated for COVID in an intensive care unit in October 2020 Image: Mark Hammersley, who was treated for COVID in an intensive care unit in October 2020 I first met Mark as he gasped for air in Warrington Hospital's intensive care unit. It was October 2020 and the country was in the grip of the second wave of the COVID pandemic. "The first 24 hours was critical. I was unconscious really in many ways," Mark reminds me. He doesn't need to. The … 阅读全文

Police Scotland officers may have acted as "super-spreaders" during the pandemic as expert advice was "ignored" by the Scottish government and the force's ex-chief constable, an inquiry heard. Calum Steele, ex-general secretary of the Scottish Police Federation (SPF), former chairman David Hamilton, and vice chairman Brian Jones gave evidence at the Scottish COVID-19 Inquiry on Monday. A Scottish government decision not to prioritise frontline police during the vaccine rollout was branded "perverse", with one officer attending 75 callouts to different households in a single weekend, the inquiry heard. Allegations that ex-chief constable Sir Iain Livingstone rejected calls for frontline officers to be given spare vaccines, refused to issue reusable rubber masks used by officers in Northern Ireland due to appearance, and refused an alternative to roadside breath testing despite concerns … 阅读全文

Prince William has revealed he skipped the Olympic Games this year because he did not want to give his wife COVID while she was undergoing chemotherapy. The royal said he decided not to join other dignitaries, such as Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer, at the spectacle in Paris in July, due to fears he may catch the virus and pass it on. The Princess of Wales announced in March that she had been diagnosed with cancer and was undergoing chemotherapy - which can weaken the body's ability to fight infections such as COVID. The royal said last month she had completed her treatment. Prince William made the comments as he met Team GB Olympic swimmers Adam Peaty and Tom Dean, as well as Paralympians Maisie Summers-Newton and Louise Fiddes, at … 阅读全文

The family of an NHS pharmacist who took his own life after suffering paralysing complications from a COVID jab are calling for urgent reform of the government's compensation scheme for vaccine damage. John Cross was told by the official medical assessor for the scheme that the jab had caused his rare neurological effects, but that he wasn't disabled enough for a payment. Mr Cross was unable to move, blink or breathe after his first dose of the vaccine. He spent seven months recovering in hospital but was left with chronic pain and numbness - and suffered several relapses. After he was rejected by the Vaccine Damage Payment Scheme (VDPS), his mental health deteriorated and he took his own life. Image: John Cross's children Image: John Cross's children Speaking exclusively to … 阅读全文

The UK's citizens were "failed" by their governments' processes, planning and policy ahead of the COVID-19 pandemic, a public inquiry has found. There were more than 235,000 deaths involving COVID-19 in the UK up to the end of 2023 and a report published today says some of the "financial and human cost may have been avoided" had the country been better prepared for the deadly outbreak in 2020. It is the first of nine reports to be published by the UK COVID-19 Inquiry and examines the state of the UK's structures and procedures in place to prepare and respond to a pandemic. The 83,000-word document details "several significant flaws" including preparing for "the wrong pandemic". Baroness Heather Hallett, the inquiry chair, is calling for "radical reform" as she makes 10 … 阅读全文

Was the UK prepared for an inevitable pandemic? It's really the sole question being addressed in this first report into "Module 1" of the COVID-19 inquiry. There are at least eight more to follow as the inquiry continues. Image: The then-Prime Minister Boris Johnson bumping elbows in greeting on a visit to a hospital during the pandemic. Pic: PA Image: The then-Prime Minister Boris Johnson bumping elbows in greeting on a visit to a hospital during the pandemic. Pic: PA For the families of the more than 230,000 people who have died from COVID and the millions of others whose lives were damaged or disrupted by it, this is far from the only question they want answered. But it is, according to family representatives, one of the most important. 'Bowl … 阅读全文

A news website in Wales has claimed the minister sacked over allegedly a leaking text from the first minister was not the source for their story. Nation Cymru posted an article in May claiming that in 2020 then-health secretary Vaughan Gething had told a ministerial chat he would delete all their messages so they could not be "captured in an FOI [Freedom of Information request]". Speaking at the COVID inquiry, the now-first minister insisted the text was related to "a Labour group meeting in August 2020", and was "about the way in which we described what we are doing", rather than pandemic decision-making. Politics live: Starmer pressed on extra bank holiday Days later, former social partnership minister Hannah Blythyn was kicked out of her role amid claims she had been … 阅读全文