The Royal Family celebrates Commonwealth Day with special TV broadcast
By Zach Harper
March 07, 2021 It s hard to believe it s been nearly a year since the World Health Organization declared the novel
coronavirus a pandemic. Last Due to
A Celebration for Commonwealth Day, put together for BBC One on March 7. In her first Commonwealth Day address since the pandemic was declared in March 2020, the Queen praised health care workers – as she consistently has throughout this global ordeal. She also took the opportunity to reflect on what we all share during at this time, even if our experiences of the pandemic may not have been quite the same.
The
Duke and Duchess of Cambridge spoke with medical, charity and voluntary staff from across the Commonwealth, and their conversations highlighted a cause that s important to them both: The intersections of the pandemic and mental health. Kate and William had video calls with
Dr. Zolelwa Sifumba from South Africa,
Faysal Islam from Bangladesh and
Heidy Quah from Malaysia to hear about how the
coronavirus pandemic has affected front-line health-care workers there and what challenges it has given their mental well-being. Zolelwa said prior to the pandemic, front-line staff were also exposed to occupational illnesses. She had a personal experience with multi-drug-resistant tuberculosis as a medical student. But COVID-19 has posed new challenges, and she said it s important for communities to give health care workers as much support as possible.