Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Thank you very much, Rhun, and I’m pleased to see that you’re better after your experience of COVID. There are so many people who’ve been in the same situation as you over the festive period, so I’m pleased to see you back and that you’re safe and well. Certainly it is good to see that there are positive signs in terms of the direction of travel, particularly with regard to the...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Diolch yn fawr, Russell, and a happy new year to you, and it's good to see everybody back, although obviously we all hope to be together in the Chamber once we're out of this particular wave. We're all hoping that this year is going to be better than last year and certainly we're hoping that we'll see an end to this particular wave very, very shortly. I was also struck by the statements, both...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Without a follow-up PCR test, it is even more important for people to report the result of every lateral flow test they undertake and to self-isolate as soon as they test positive. If this isn't done, contact tracing will not be possible, so we will be unable to give the support that some people need. We need everyone to continue to play their part in disrupting the transmission of COVID-19...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Diolch yn fawr, Dirprwy Lywydd, and thank you for this opportunity to update Members about what continues to be a very serious public health situation. Since the Senedd was recalled before Christmas, the situation in Wales has changed. The omicron wave has arrived, as predicted, and is causing large numbers of people to fall ill. This is disrupting our public services, particularly the NHS,...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Llywydd, the broad context for our decision making has been inextricably linked to the consideration of the wider UK science and policy landscape. For example, the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies advice, the UK Chief Medical Officer's network, Treasury, and UK Government support measures—they all set the parameters within which decisions made in Wales by the Welsh Government have...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Llywydd, this pandemic has been very long and difficult, and it's impacted on all aspects of our daily lives. In an ideal world, we would be looking forward to Christmas and new year at this point, but once again, we are facing a new variant that is moving very quickly, and tens of thousands of people across the nation could be infected by this variant before Christmas. This is a very...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Formally.
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Diolch yn fawr. Thank you, Huw, and thanks for the consideration of your committee. I just would appeal to you to consider the kind of urgency with which we had to introduce these. Of course we're always very anxious to do an equality impact assessment, and that summary impact assessment will be done as soon as practically possible. Of course, all the people who are all hands on deck at the...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Llywydd, let me be clear. These new measures have not been introduced lightly, but with this high level of uncertainty, it is right that we continue to be guarded. The new measures in the regulations will help us to safeguard Wales as we understand the new variant better and decide on our next steps. I am very pleased that we have an opportunity to discuss this motion today. I look forward to...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: As Members are aware, the omicron variant of coronavirus was first detected on 23 November and was designated a variant of concern by the World Health Organization on 26 November. We now have multiple cases in Wales, and signs of community transmission across the UK. We are prepared to respond rapidly to any emerging variant—[Interruption.] Excuse me. I'm very sorry. Any emerging variants...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Thank you very much, Llywydd. I move the motion before us today. Throughout the pandemic, this Government has worked quickly in response to the latest scientific and medical advice. Our views have been proportionate: we've relaxed restrictions when it was safe to do so, and tightened up those restrictions when entirely necessary in order to safeguard Wales. Since 7 August, individuals who are...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Thank you, Heledd. I think it is really important that people understand that our system in Wales is different to that in England. We're not going to have walk-ins as they are seeing in England. It's not going to be a free-for-all here. We will go in order. So, I don't know where people are getting that idea that we are doing this in the same way as in England. We're not. We're going to adopt...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Thanks very much, Gareth. I've got to tell you that overreaction is something that, obviously, we're very aware of. We know that the situation is not all about health; it's about economic consequences, social consequences, mental health consequences; we have to balance all of these things out against the potential of our NHS being overwhelmed. So, all of these things are things that we put...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Thanks, Rhianon. You're absolutely right; the double dose is not enough. But the last thing I want to do is to put off people who haven't had any doses at all. They're the ones I'm still most concerned about—people who have had no protection whatsoever. Our ICU departments are really under a huge amount of pressure, and some of that is because there are people in there who have had no...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Thank you very much, Rhun. I think you're right that very high numbers are going to catch this new variant, and I accept that people's expectations are very high, but I would like to ask the public to wait until they are called so that we can maintain order. Some 26,000 people were vaccinated yesterday, so we've already increased the capacity hugely over the past few days. In terms of people...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Diolch yn fawr, Russell. Vaccination is absolutely the priority now, and if we do want to protect our NHS going into January in particular, then now is the time to do that work, and that's why we have really put a turbo charger up our system, to make sure that that vaccination programme can actually just be rolled out much quicker, but not in the chaotic way that we've seen in England. In...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: I encourage everyone to take up the offer of the vaccine. Please make this your priority. It is one of the most important things that you can do to protect yourself. Dirprwy Lywydd, this is an incredibly fast-moving and worrying situation. However, at the moment, the number of confirmed cases of omicron in Wales remains low and we continue to respond to the delta wave. But we must be prepared...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Diolch yn fawr, Dirprwy Lywydd. Thank you for the opportunity to update Members with the latest information about the very fast-moving omicron variant, its impact on Wales and the public health situation here. In my last statement to Members, I said it was only a matter of time until omicron arrived in Wales, and sadly, that has proved to be the case. The first case in Wales was confirmed...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: It's a requirement for all providers to adhere to the standards of service for housing adaptations that we published in 2019. These include targets for waiting times for different kinds of adaptations. Most are small adaptations, which are completed within a few days, but the biggest group of adaptations in terms of value is the medium-sized adaptations. These include the most common...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Diolch yn fawr, Dirprwy Lywydd. First of all, I'd like to thank Peter Fox for bringing this important issue to the Chamber and Members who have contributed to the debate today. I have listened carefully to all the speakers and I think there have been many valid points made. Motor neurone disease, as so many have said, is a devastating disease and I know this because my dear uncle Robert...
