Covid inquiry: Disappearing WhatsApps adviser to give evidence

For the final time this week – the
inquiry is taking a day off tomorrow – we’ll be bringing you the latest updates on the UK Covid Inquiry.

We had a rapid-fire Wednesday,
hearing from a consultant pandemic adviser, union boss, local government leader
and senior civil servant.

Here are some things we learned:

• Dr Quentin Sandifer from Public Health Wales says he was “astonished” that, by early March 2020, the
  Welsh government still did not want to treat Covid as an emergency
• He also described
  the “frantic” situation at PHW at the start of the pandemic meant it
  was not always possible to keep proper records

• Shavanah Taj, general secretary of the Wales Trade Union
  Congress, said the UK government put the Welsh government in an
  “impossible position” when Wales introduced a firebreak lockdown in late
  2020 due to a lack of financial support
• Chris Llewelyn of the Welsh Local Government Association,
  said local authorities did not feel trusted by the Welsh government early in
  the pandemic
• Llewelyn
  added that there was a feeling within the social care workforce that care
  staff were neglected and not appreciated in the same way as those in the
  NHS