Remembering Covid

A Government Commission has recommended that an annual day of reflection should be established to commemorate the Coronavirus pandemic and its legacy.

The Commission was set up specifically to find a public consensus around how the events of the pandemic and its effects should be remembered and addressed for the benefit of families affected but also whole communities.

Its final report, published in September, makes ten recommendations, of which the creation of an official day of remembrance is the first.

The chosen date is the first Sunday in March, although it recognises this may occasionally clash with either St David’s Day or Mothering Sunday, in which cases another Sunday can be selected.

Other recommendations include the erection of memorials to those who died and those, like health workers, who played a part in the fight against the virus.

In Wales, three commemorative woodlands have already been announced, including one at Brownhill in the Tywi Valley between Llandeilo and Llandovery. The report places emphasis on the need for public open spaces where people can meet and reflect. It also calls for funding to be made available for local commemorative projects, administered by a Covid Commemoration Trust that would also co-ordinate events such as the day of remembrance.

It would also be responsible for coming up with a nationally-recognised symbol – or logo – to be included wherever a project is established.

The UK Government has yet to respond to the Commission’s recommendations.