'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.”

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.