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Dr Matt Morgan’s heartfelt farewell to his family amid the height of the coronavirus crisis reveals the human side of the pandemic’s toll on healthcare workers. At just 40 years old, while serving on the intensive care ward at Cardiff’s University Hospital of Wales during the early days of Covid-19, he feared he might not survive. In a poignant email to his wife titled “Things To Know In Case I Die,” he reflected on a life filled with love, travel, and cherished moments with his children and friends. His message, which touched on practical matters like internet passwords as well as emotional advice to cherish happy memories and not stay sad for long, underscored the uncertainty and fear facing frontline staff during the pandemic’s darkest times.
This letter comes as the UK Covid-19 Inquiry prepares to issue its second report, focusing on the Welsh government’s handling of the crisis alongside decisions by officials in London, Edinburgh, and Belfast. Over a four-year span, Wales recorded more than 12,000 Covid-related deaths, including a tragic peak of 83 deaths in a single day during the second wave in January 2021. Dr Morgan recalls vividly the day Wales’ busiest hospital admitted its first Covid patient and the heavy burden of watching patients attached to life support machines. His email captures not only his own fears but the anxiety shared among unvaccinated staff at the time, some of whom ultimately lost their lives.
Now aged 45, Dr Morgan reflects on the extraordinary dedication shown by healthcare workers and marvels at how quickly an effective vaccine was developed. Yet he voices concern about the shortcomings in preparing for future pandemics, particularly highlighting Wales’ relatively low number of intensive care beds per capita compared to other parts of Europe. He recognizes the complexity of political decision-making, which must balance short-term public health needs with long-term societal impacts such as business closures and educational disruption. “It’s hard to make decisions when you won’t have a result or output for a decade, two decades or even a generation,” he observes.
Another personal narrative comes from Rhys Morgan, a young man from Swansea who lost his aunt, described as a joyful and nurturing figure in his life, to Covid in December 2020. Rhys, then 16 and studying for his GCSEs, struggled with the emotional aftermath of her death and the challenges of returning to normal life amid ongoing restrictions. He shares how the trauma made everyday activities daunting, and how his experience was often misunderstood by peers and teachers who had not endured similar loss. As the youngest member of a bereaved families group advocating for justice in Wales, Rhys expresses frustration with the authorities and a desire for accountability, saying, “I feel a lot of pain and a lot of anger and I feel things could have been managed differently.”
The forthcoming UK Covid-19 Inquiry report, chaired by Heather Hallett, is set to examine central pandemic decisions by devolved governments, including Wales, England, Scotland, and Northern Ireland. Following three weeks of hearings in Cardiff with witnesses ranging from politicians to bereaved family representatives, the report will likely address how early warnings were assessed, the protection offered to vulnerable populations, and the differing public health rules across UK nations. Despite this, some campaigners remain worried that the Welsh experience may not receive as thorough an examination as England’s, fueling calls for a distinct Welsh-focused inquiry to provide a more comprehensive scrutiny of the regional response
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