'People are dying' - Jamie Roberts starts daily blog in fight against pandemic

Welsh great Jamie Roberts has said that it is a “privilege” to be able to volunteer as an honorary fellow with the NHS Cardiff & Vale Trust during the coronavirus pandemic. The 33-year-old graduated from Cardiff University School of Medicine in 2013, and has returned to the city from his stint in South Africa to help.

In an Instagram post on Wednesday, the 97-cap Wales, and British and Irish Lions centre made an appeal to the country, saying: “It’s going to take the effort of everyone in our country to overcome this and each one of us has a part to play, however small or insignificant it may feel. We’re all part of the team. I guess the sooner we ALL buy into the solution, the sooner we’ll overcome this together.”

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So here we are. Global pandemic. It’s a privilege to be able to volunteer with the NHS Cardiff & Vale trust as an honorary fellow and join our countries best team. It’s going to take the effort of everyone in our country to overcome this and each one of us has a part to play, however small or insignificant it may feel. We’re all part of the team. I guess the sooner we ALL buy in to the solution, the sooner we’ll overcome this together. There’s a lot of fear out there and understandably so. People are dying and families are grieving. I really feel we can help to limit that fear through education. Specifically, through sharing much of the good being done by different departments within the NHS and sharing the stories of goodwill in the wider business community. This way we’ll hopefully gain more of an understanding of what is actually being done to fight the virus outbreak. So each day I’m going to be writing a blog (will send link when ready!) and using my social media platforms to share the best of what is happening within the health trust here in Cardiff. The past three days, I’ve been amazed at the work ethic and resilience of each member of staff I’ve come across, all working through very difficult times. First up – DRIVE-THROUGH PUBLIC HEALTH COVID SCREENING Loved meeting the team here on the grounds of Whitchurch Hospital. They’re setup to test healthcare staff and their immediate families. Will is usually an orthodontist, Jo usually works in dementia research, Lucy for the community resource team, Julie and Jane for the acute response team and Rhys in haematology clinical trials. All have been redeployed to help test our staff and play their part ???

A post shared by Jamie Roberts (@jamiehuwroberts) on Apr 8, 2020 at 1:49pm PDT

Roberts also said that there is understandably a lot of fear currently, but “we can help to limit that fear through education”. It is for that reason he has started writing a daily blog, where he will share the “best of what is happening” within the health trust in Cardiff.

The former Cardiff Blues centre started by discussing the drive-through public health covid screening in the grounds of Whitchurch Hospital, where a team of people from different medical backgrounds are testing healthcare staff and their immediate families.

This is the first story of “goodwill” that Roberts has shared, further mentioning how he has been “amazed at the work ethic and resilience of each member of staff” that he has encountered.

The two-time Grand Slam winner was playing for the Stormers in Super Rugby when the pandemic broke out, having moved to Cape Town from Bath in January. He initially offered his flat in Cardiff to any NHS workers that needed a place to stay while he was still in South Africa, but has now returned to Wales to help the cause.