Institute Of Welsh Affairs

Has Wales actually performed better than other nations so far in our Covid response? Polling suggests that people in Wales think the Welsh Government has done a better job than the UK government in keeping us safe during the pandemic. Statistics show that after the first wave, excess deaths in England were 46% higher than last year, and in Wales only 26% higher, but should we have set a far higher bar for our response than just ‘being better than England’? Or have we done as well as what could be expected under the circumstances? In this session we explore: Why aren’t we talking more about what better-performing countries have done, and why we haven’t copied them? Could the Welsh Government have done more to clarify public health messaging? What is the Welsh Government not doing right now that could be helping control rising cases? Could Wales and the UK have had a better outcome from the pandemic? What can Welsh policy makers do to learn the lessons of Covid-19? Agenda Welcome & introdu