Summary

  • The UK Covid-19 inquiry is in Cardiff to scrutinise the Welsh government's handling of the pandemic

  • The inquiry covers decision-making during the pandemic by the UK government and the devolved governments in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland

  • Today's session will focus on the impact coronavirus, and the responses to it, had on various sections of society

  • The bereaved families group said they wanted to know why Wales was nearly two weeks behind England in testing elderly patients for Covid, before they were discharged to care homes

  • The pandemic exposed existing racial inequalities, the inquiry hears

  • More than 12,000 people in Wales have died with Covid since the pandemic was declared in March 2020

  • We’ll bring you text coverage here, and you’ll also be able to watch by pressing play at the top of the page

Live Reporting

Adam Hale, Oliver Slow, David Deans and Steve Duffy

  1. What happened yesterday?

    Welsh Covid rules apply signReuters

    The UK Covid inquiry is being held in Wales for the next three weeks

    As we’ve mentioned, much of the headlines from the first day of the inquiry in Wales focused on claims of deleted WhatsApp messages by officials, but here's some other things we learned:

    • Tom Poole KC, counsel for the inquiry, set out some of the questions the Welsh government will have to answer, including whether ministers took the threat seriously enough at the start. Poole said Wales' cabinet did not discuss Covid until 25 February, “a whole month” after it was first discussed by the UK government
    • On the day the lockdown was announced in March 2020, then-health minister Vaughan Gething emailed himself an account of “chaos” in a Welsh hospital from a consultant. “No protection for nurses, very low morale as being asked to care for patients admitted to orthopaedic wards by medics with respiratory symptoms, masks not being released,” it read
    • The handling of mass gatherings, and whether the Welsh government should have called them off earlier in 2020, was also among the issues being examined. The inquiry heard how a deputy minister said it was “odd” that Welsh Labour cancelled its conference but its members in government were allowing 20,000 Scottish fans to travel to Cardiff for a Six Nations game
    • Chairwoman Baroness Hallett acknowledged that some had hoped for an independent Welsh inquiry. She said that while that was not a decision for her, she promised the UK inquiry will do its utmost to “investigate and analyse fully and fairly the most significant issues that concern people in Wales”
    • The inquiry also watched a film of testimony from bereaved relatives, which included details of a delayed diagnosis of cancer, the experience of trying to see relatives in hospital, and of patients catching Covid when they were admitted for other conditions.

  2. Analysis

    Today's session will focus on the impact of Covid

    Owain Clarke
    BBC Wales health correspondent

    In short, we'll be hearing about what impact the virus - and the responses to it - had on various sections of society.

    That'll come from representatives of the families who've lost loved ones, but also from experts exploring the impact on black and ethnic minority communities and disabled people.

    Evidence suggests these group suffered disproportionately, either as a result of the virus itself or the measures put in place to contain it.

    Former children's commissioner Sally Holland and the older people's commissioner Helena Herklots will also give evidence - who'll consider things like the effects on children who lost out on schooling and elderly people who were the most likely to feel isolated during restrictions.

  3. Disappearing WhatsApps dominates first day of inquiry in Wales

    Wales' rural affairs minister Lesley Griffiths was asked about the issue of disappearing WhatsApp messages on BBC Radio Wales Breakfast this morning.

    She said that, while she does not have WhatsApp on her ministerial phone, she does have it with its deleting-messages function on her personal phone switched on, claiming that “most people” do.

    Meanwhile Andrew RT Davies MS, the Welsh Conservatives' leader in the Senedd, accused Labour of “hypocrisy”.

    Davies pointed out that Angela Rayner, Labour UK's deputy leader, had called former Scotland first minister Nicola Sturgeon “appalling” for deliberately deleting her own WhatsApp messages during Covid.

    “But now we know Labour ministers in Wales were doing exactly the same thing,” Davies said.

    “People who lost loved ones during the pandemic deserve better than this."

  4. Welcome back

    Vaughan GethingGetty Images

    Tuesday's session heard Vaughan Gething used disappearing messages on his WhatsApp while he was health minister during the pandemic - with campaigners claiming it was used to discuss government business

    Good morning and welcome back to our live coverage of the second day of the UK Covid inquiry in Wales.

    Yesterday we heard opening statements from a range of groups and individuals including representatives of bereaved families, unions, care homes and the Welsh government.

    It emerged that Vaughan Gething, Wales’ health minister during the pandemic, used a disappearing messages feature on his phone, as did an adviser to First Minister Mark Drakeford.

    Nia Gowman, barrister for the Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice Cymru group, told the hearing that the “limited messages” disclosed to the inquiry showed WhatsApp and texts were used to discuss government business “where they shouldn’t have been”.

    "They show Welsh government senior special advisors suspiciously and systematically deleting communications," she said.

    Messages were sent by special advisers to ministers reminding them to "clear out WhatsApp chats once a week", Ms Gowman said.

    "They showed Jane Runeckles, the most senior special advisor for the first minister for Wales, and Vaughan Gething, minister for health, turning on disappearing messages," she added.

    Gething said last week: “Everything I have got I have provided.”

    Read a summary of yesterday's hearing here.