Calendar An icon of a desk calendar. Cancel An icon of a circle with a diagonal line across. Caret An icon of a block arrow pointing to the right. Email An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of the Facebook "f" mark. Google An icon of the Google "G" mark. Linked In An icon of the Linked In "in" mark. Logout An icon representing logout. Profile An icon that resembles human head and shoulders. Telephone An icon of a traditional telephone receiver. Tick An icon of a tick mark. Is Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes. Is Not Public An icon of a human eye and eyelashes with a diagonal line through it. Pause Icon A two-lined pause icon for stopping interactions. Quote Mark A opening quote mark. Quote Mark A closing quote mark. Arrow An icon of an arrow. Folder An icon of a paper folder. Breaking An icon of an exclamation mark on a circular background. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Caret An icon of a caret arrow. Clock An icon of a clock face. Close An icon of the an X shape. Close Icon An icon used to represent where to interact to collapse or dismiss a component Comment An icon of a speech bubble. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Comments An icon of a speech bubble, denoting user comments. Ellipsis An icon of 3 horizontal dots. Envelope An icon of a paper envelope. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Camera An icon of a digital camera. Home An icon of a house. Instagram An icon of the Instagram logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. Magnifying Glass An icon of a magnifying glass. Search Icon A magnifying glass icon that is used to represent the function of searching. Menu An icon of 3 horizontal lines. Hamburger Menu Icon An icon used to represent a collapsed menu. Next An icon of an arrow pointing to the right. Notice An explanation mark centred inside a circle. Previous An icon of an arrow pointing to the left. Rating An icon of a star. Tag An icon of a tag. Twitter An icon of the Twitter logo. Video Camera An icon of a video camera shape. Speech Bubble Icon A icon displaying a speech bubble WhatsApp An icon of the WhatsApp logo. Information An icon of an information logo. Plus A mathematical 'plus' symbol. Duration An icon indicating Time. Success Tick An icon of a green tick. Success Tick Timeout An icon of a greyed out success tick. Loading Spinner An icon of a loading spinner. Facebook Messenger An icon of the facebook messenger app logo. Facebook An icon of a facebook f logo. Facebook Messenger An icon of the Twitter app logo. LinkedIn An icon of the LinkedIn logo. WhatsApp Messenger An icon of the Whatsapp messenger app logo. Email An icon of an mail envelope. Copy link A decentered black square over a white square.

Covid inquiry to examine Welsh government’s response to pandemic

The UK Covid-19 Inquiry resumes on Tuesday, with hearings in Cardiff over the next three weeks (Jane Barlow/PA)
The UK Covid-19 Inquiry resumes on Tuesday, with hearings in Cardiff over the next three weeks (Jane Barlow/PA)

The public inquiry investigating Wales’ response to the Covid pandemic is set to start on Tuesday.

The UK Covid-19 Inquiry resumes with hearings in Cardiff over the next three weeks.

This latest phase of the inquiry will examine and make recommendations about the Welsh Government’s decision-making in response to the pandemic between early January 2020 and May 2022, when the remaining Covid-19 restrictions were lifted in Wales.

The inquiry will hear from politicians and civil servants who worked for the government throughout the pandemic.

It will also examine the relationship between the Welsh and UK governments during the pandemic; the imposition of interventions such as lockdowns and face coverings; and public health communication, including any alleged breaches of rules by ministers or officials.

Mark Drakeford resignation
Mark Drakeford, First Minister of Wales, is expected to appear at the inquiry hearing in Cardiff (Maja Smiejkowska/PA)

A list of those who will appear at the inquiry is published weekly.

It is widely expected that Mark Drakeford, the first minister of Wales and Vaughan Gething, the health minister at the height of the pandemic, will appear but they have not been announced.

Day one of the inquiry will hear opening statements from core groups, such as the Welsh government and Public Health Wales.

Members of the Covid-19 Bereaved Families for Justice Cymru will speak on Wednesday.

The inquiry has previously heard from the UK and Scottish governments, with the former prime minister and former first minister of Scotland, Boris Johnson and Nicola Sturgeon, having appeared.

Much of the evidence heard in those sessions related to WhatsApp messages exchanged between ministers and officials during the pandemic.

This included some expletive-laden texts from Ms Sturgeon, who referred to Mr Johnson as a “clown”.

The inquiry also led to a row in Scotland, after it was revealed many messages had been deleted.

Mr Drakeford has previously said that some of the messages sent by Welsh officials may have been deleted but told the BBC he did not think “there’s anything deleted on my phone”, describing himself as a “sparing” user of electronic communication.

He was forced to correct the record in the Senedd late last year after initially stating that he did not use the messaging platform at all.