Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 1:58 pm on 21 March 2023.
First Minister, you will have read the recent coroner reports into the deaths of Gareth Roberts and Domingo David, who both worked for Cardiff and Vale University Health Board. The coroner found that they died from COVID acquired at work and that these deaths should be classified as deaths from industrial disease. The health board argued against that designation. I realise that it is for the UK Government to decide whether COVID should be recognised as an industrial disease for the purposes of industrial disablement benefit, but on the general question, on which the coroner found in favour of the families and the trade unions, that COVID acquired at work should be regarded as an industrial disease, what is the position of the Welsh Government? And do you also agree with the trade unions, who want to see long COVID registered as a disability for the purposes of fair and equal treatment?