The circumstances that led to the Welsh Government's decision to impose a Wales-wide Covid lockdown over Christmas 2020 were “inexcusable”, says the chair of the UK Public Inquiry into the pandemic.
Baroness Hallett said Welsh ministers failed to take “decisive action” against the “entirely predictable” Covid variant that led to the lockdown.
According to her, before the introduction of quarantine, ministers relaxed measures “faster than scientists advised.” Parts of England were also locked down at the same time as Wales.
First Minister Eluned Morgan said the government would take time to read the report, consider its recommendations and take action.
Hallett made the comments in a video statement following the publication of the inquiry's second report, which looked at all four UK governments' responses to the pandemic.
The report states that the Welsh Government initial response to Covid was 'inadequate' ministers in Cardiff are “overly reliant” on the UK government taking the lead.
First Minister Eluned Morgan welcomed the report and said the Welsh Government was “committed to learning from the pandemic” and would work with other UK governments in the coming months.
“It is important that we remember the enormous loss and suffering of so many people due to Covid-19. Today our thoughts must be with them first,” she added.
Former First Minister Mark Drakeford defended the Government's handling of the pandemic, saying it had “acted in the best way we could”.
In a new video message, Baroness Hallett said that from August to December 2020, Wales had the “highest age-standardized death rate of the four countries”.
“It is likely that this was the result of a combination of failed local restrictions, a fire lockdown that was introduced too late despite the exponential growth of the virus, and a decision to ease measures faster than scientists had advised.”
She said that by the end of 2020, Wales, like the rest of the UK, had “failed to take decisive action in response to the entirely predictable Option Alpha”.
“Instead, authorities pressed ahead with plans to ease measures over Christmas while cases were rising rapidly, but the course changed on December 19 when infection levels reached critical levels,” she said.
Baroness Hallett added that the “mistakes” of February and March 2020 had been repeated and “a return to lockdown again became inevitable.”
“It was unforgivable.”
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 lifted on 19 December 2020, limiting gatherings to Christmas Day.
Announcing the measures, which meant people should stay at home and only go out for essential reasons, Drakeford said hundreds of people had been infected by a new, “more aggressive” variant of the virus in Wales.
Similar measures were also introduced by then-Prime Minister Boris Johnson in parts of England.
