Huw’s struggle with suspected coronavirus
BBC newsreader Huw Edwards has revealed he was off work for three weeks recovering from suspected coronavirus.
At the start of this month, the Bridgend-born newsreader announced that he had spent time in a London hospital recovering from pneumonia.
Now, writing in Welsh language publication Barn, the 58-year-old said a doctor who treated him was “totally convinced it was Covid19” and that he returned to work “having fully understood what the illness was”.
Detailing his suspected experience with the virus, he said he began experiencing symptoms on a 10-mile walk between Faversham and Seasalter in Kent – a route he said he usually found “easy enough”.
He said he was experiencing severe muscle aches and walking became difficult.
“I developed pains in my legs, hips and shoulders. The walk – although slow – was very hard and
I almost missed my train back to London,” wrote Huw.
“And that’s where I started showing signs of pneumonia, and the doctor was totally convinced it was Covid-19 at the root of it, although I wasn’t tested to confirm it formally.
“I returned to work after three weeks of rest having fully understood what the illness was.”
The newsreader, who was raised in Llanelli and attended Cardiff University, returned to work two weeks ago after being discharged from Kings College Hospital in Camberwell, London, where he was treated for his symptoms.
Pneumonia is an inflammation of the tissue in one or both lungs usually caused by a bacterial infection.
He praised the “superb” care he received from staff at the hospital as well as urging people to stay safe and follow government guidelines.
In his piece with Barn, the newsreader went on to explain how the nature of his job within the BBC had changed since lockdown began.
He said that the virus has meant that the hundreds of staff working to produce news “24 hours a day, every day of the year” at the London office had now been reduced to the bare minimum with many working remotely.
He went on to say that distancing means that everybody sits apart with many people absent “due to the effects of the virus”. He also explained there is a one-way traffic system for walkers in the office.
The newsreader also used the piece to defend the impartiality of the BBC, saying it was attacked equally by those on the right and the left.
“Too many ‘worship’ Boris and his crew, according to some, and too ‘cynical’ attacks on ministers who ‘do their best’ under ‘difficult circumstances,’ according to others. The truth is that ministers face jarring questions every day,” he said.
On the future of the BBC, he said the “contribution and reach” of the corporation was “undeniable” and that it had always been the “convenient whipping servant for politicians of all colours”.