Circumstances of Covid Christmas lockdown ‘inexcusable’
The circumstances which led to the Welsh Government’s decision to impose a Covid lockdown across Wales over Christmas 2020 were “inexcusable”, the chair of the UK’s public inquiry into the pandemic has said.
Baroness Hallet said Welsh ministers had failed to take “decisive action” against an “entirely predictable” Covid variant causing the lockdown.
Before the lockdown, she said ministers had relaxed measures “more quickly than the scientists had advised”. Parts of England were also locked down at the same time as Wales.
Prime Minister Eluned Morgan said the government would take time to read the report, consider its recommendations and act on them.
Hallet made the comment in a video statement following the inquiry’s publication of its second report which examined the response of the UK’s four governments to the pandemic.
The report says the Welsh Government’s initial response to Covid was “inadequate”, with ministers in Cardiff being “too dependent” on the UK Government to take the lead.
Prime Minister Eluned Morgan welcomed the report and said the Welsh Government was “committed to learning lessons from the pandemic” and would work with other UK governments over the coming months.
“It is important that 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,” she added.
Former Prime Minister Mark Drakeford defended the Government’s handling of the pandemic, saying it “acted in the best way possible”.
In a new video statement, Baroness Hallet said that between August and December 2020, Wales had the “highest age-standardized death rate of the four nations”.
“It is likely that this is the result of a combination of failures of local restrictions, a firebreak lockdown imposed too late despite the exponential growth of the virus, and the decision to relax measures more quickly than scientists had advised.”
She said that at the end of 2020 Wales, along with the rest of the UK, had “failed to take decisive action in response to the entirely predictable Alpha variant”.
“Instead, he continued with plans to relax measures over Christmas, as cases rose rapidly, only to change course on December 19, when infection levels became critical,” she said.
Baroness Hallett added that the “mistakes” of February and March 2020 were repeated and “a return to lockdown had once again become inevitable”.
“It was inexcusable.”
The Welsh Government had originally planned to relax the rules from 23 to 27 December 2020 to allow people to celebrate with loved ones, but these were scrapped on 19 December 2020, with gatherings limited to Christmas Day.
Announcing the measures, which require people to stay at home and only go out for essential reasons, Drakeford said hundreds of people had contracted a new, “more aggressive” variant of the virus in Wales.
Similar measures were also introduced by the then Prime Minister Boris Johnson in parts of England.
