» Comment:
I AM writing to express my extreme concern over the poor handling of the Covid-19 pandemic by both the Welsh Parliament and the Westminster Government.
I say this as someone who was born and bred in the Rhondda Valley but who now lives in Fremantle, Western Australia. I visit the Rhondda regularly and I have many friends and family living there. I am concerned for their welfare.
Western Australia (WA) has approximately the same population as Wales but their approach to the pandemic is very different with the statistics speaking for themselves.
As of May 9, 2020 there has been 552 cases of coronavirus in WA with nine deaths. In contrast, Wales has had just over 11,000 cases and almost 1,100 deaths. The mortality rates are 1.6% and 10% respectively. The reason for this massive difference is the early actions taken by both the state and Commonwealth governments here in Australia.
Apart from the usual social distancing measures, the authorities moved quickly to shut down borders both internally and externally. Also, quarantining of international arrivals and interstate arrivals has been in place for at least two months. Testing and tracking has been another big part of the response. Whilst these and other measures were initially viewed as somewhat draconian, the bottom line is that they have worked and worked very effectively.
The contrast with what has happened (or rather not happened!) in Wales and the UK is staggering and extremely dangerous. And this all due to the poor response of both the Welsh Parliament and UK Government. It is disgraceful and unforgivable.
To add to your woes, the authorities are now talking about winding back the lockdown measures! This is blatantly the wrong thing to do and in fact, you should be tightening the measures in order to get on top of this very serious pandemic.
Jeff Gunningham Fremantle, Western Australia its first Covid-19 death on March 9, and has seen 7,445 deaths in these 59 days. That equates to an average daily death toll 126 attributable to Covid-19.
With such an abhorrent failure of all nations of the British state, to be waving Union Jacks at a time when our governments have let us all down so badly is mind boggling.
Rhidian Richard Clydach, Swansea