Prince Charles visits Wales to learn of nation’s response to virus
THE PRINCE of Wales has made his first official visit to Wales since the lockdown to learn how the nation has been dealing with the coronavirus outbreak.
Charles travelled to a familyrun travel and holiday business and heard how the firm was beginning to see signs of a recovery, and when he met medical staff from a hospital in Merthyr Tydfil he thanked them for their efforts.
The heir to the throne contracted Covid-19 in March and suffered from a loss of taste and smell for some time and when asked about the illness revealed he has also suffered from pneumonia in the past.
Sheltering from a downpour under an umbrella, the Prince chatted to staff outside in an internal car park at the Prince Charles Hospital in Merthyr Tydfil, which he had opened in 1978.
Adele Gittoes, a senior executive with the Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board, hosted the visit and afterwards talked about how staff dealt with the pandemic: “It was incredibly difficult.
“Everyone was always professional and are trained to be professional – they deal with medicine, they deal with lives and deaths. But at this time they were dealing with the unknown, which was the hardest part for all staff.”
The director of operations for the board’s Merthyr Cynon area said the experience of Covid-19 had made the hospital stronger and some staff, including herself had contracted the virus.
She had also asked the Prince about his experience with Covid: “He did mention to me that he’s had pneumonia previously.”
Claire Davies, a Covid ward manager, spoke about the guilt she felt when convalescing from the virus: “I took two weeks off work, I wasn’t hospitalised but the guilt of being ward manager and not being at work that was hard – that was really, really difficult.”
Earlier Charles had visited Edwards Coaches, which has been run by five generations of the Edwards family since 1925, in nearby Mountain Ash.
He heard how some of the 600 members of staff at the company helped people from 90 homes in Nantgarw to safety following devastating flooding in February.