Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Diolch yn fawr, Delyth. You are absolutely right that we believe that the incident at the Immensa lab and the fact that there were so many tests that came from Wales—. We estimate that about 4,000 people in Wales were wrongly told that their tests were negative. If you extrapolate from that and look at it—imagine, 4,000 people wandering around thinking that they're clear when, in fact,...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Thank you. The current rates of COVID-19 in South Wales East are a cause for concern, with a very high number of cases. We continue to monitor the situation closely and to take all appropriate measures. Continued public support is vital to the success of our efforts.
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: We have achieved the commitment in the COVID-19 vaccination strategy, published on 12 October, to offer all 12 to 15-year-olds a vaccination by 1 November. To date, Wales has vaccinated 66,942 12 to 15-year-olds.
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Thanks very much, Gareth, and you'll be aware from the statement that I have just announced that we are absolutely focused on social care. In that statement, I drew attention to a lot of the work that's being done in care, in particular in north Wales, and I talked about Wrexham and the way that they are using new fabrics to make sure that they improve the efficiency of their buildings, but...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Thank you very much, Rhun. Could I agree with you that there are a lot of things we need to consider in this area? One of those, of course, is something that you mentioned, which is the impact of air pollution on health. We know that there is a link between air pollution and cardiac arrest, and stroke, heart disease, lung cancer, obesity, cardiovascular disease, asthma, dementia—all of...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Thanks very much, Russell, and I'm glad to see that you agree with our net-zero ambition. I think that one of the benefits of today is that, actually, we are raising public awareness, we are telling people that this is something that has to happen in all sectors of our policy areas. Although in relation to the NHS, it may not be the thing that people think of as the first most important issue...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Another important aspect of the effort to help Wales to reach net zero will be reducing emissions from public sector transport and its fleet. To that end, EV charging points have been introduced across the NHS estate and they will be considered for all future projects. The NHS buildings are due to undergo energy efficiency upgrades, with large-scale renewable electricity schemes deployed and...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Diolch yn fawr, Dirprwy Lywydd. As Members will be aware, the Welsh Government’s Net Zero Wales plan was launched last week, 28 October, and I'd like to take this opportunity to provide an update on health and social care’s crucial role in contributing to the Welsh public sector’s collective ambition to reach net zero by 2030. We know that action is needed, not only because NHS Wales is...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Thank you very much, Mabon. Just in terms of infection in schools: the infection framework has been in place for some time. The extent to which people were using that depended on the rates within their communities. Of course, we've tightened up our perspective and our position in terms of trying to have people within the same household to have a test if somebody else within the household is...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Thank you very much for that question. I'm willing to look into that to see whether there's anything that we can do in this area.
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Thanks very much, Gareth. We clearly have to be very careful about protecting the vulnerable at this stage. The best way to protect the vulnerable is to make sure that they have been vaccinated, and that’s why we’re very keen to make sure that we prioritise the booster vaccination for those vulnerable people, for those people in care homes and, as I say, we’re doing remarkably well with...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Diolch yn fawr, Huw. I will try to make sure that I pass on your thanks to Transport for Wales, and thank you for raising it directly with them. We're obviously continuing those conversations with Transport for Wales, but, clearly, it does make a difference when people do raise these issues with them. You're absolutely right about clarity of message. It is difficult to maintain that clarity...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Thank you very much, Rhun. We are doing a lot now to try and reinforce the system—that is what our discussion was during recent weeks, particularly with Transport for Wales. So, those discussions have been ongoing with Transport for Wales to ensure that they see it as part of their responsibility to police this. As I said, we have also reached out to some of the shops, particularly the...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Thanks very much, Russell, for many, many questions there. I'm not sure I'll get through them all but I'll give them a go. First of all, on the beds in Wales, and the number of beds in hospitals, my understanding is that the number of beds that have been quoted did not include, for example, the field hospital beds and, of course, doesn't take into account the fact that the situation is...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: We have agreed that the best option now is to strengthen some of the current measures we already have in place. These include vaccination, and specifically a speed-up of the roll-out of booster vaccinations, and vaccines for those between 12 and 15 years of age. We have already offered boosters to all eligible care homes residents and staff. As always, I want to thank everyone involved in our...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Thank you, Llywydd, for this opportunity to update Members on the situation with COVID.
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Thank you for the opportunity to update Members on the COVID situation, during what is already proving to be a very challenging autumn. Now, in my last update I was able to report cases decreasing and plateauing, indicating we were potentially passing the peak of this wave. In the last three weeks, the situation in Wales deteriorated, recording our highest ever case rates during...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Thanks very much, John. You are quite right that we're not out of the woods yet in relation to the pandemic. The good news, of course, is that the translation of COVID cases into hospitalisations has been massively reduced as a result of our very successful vaccination programme. So, we're hoping not to see the kind of incidence that we saw in the first and second waves, where we are seeing...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Thank you very much, Natasha. I'm very well aware of the issues around A&E, and I'm keeping a very close eye on the pressures in the system around A&E. That's why we have already made a significant addition in terms of recruitment to the Welsh ambulance service, which was significant not just last year—over 100 last year—but significantly more this year and more to come. Of course, you...
Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan: Diolch yn fawr, Alun. I think you're absolutely right. I think that the approach of a kind of regional approach to medicine is something that we need to take very seriously. I think that people are prepared to travel to specialist centres, where they know that they're going to get expert support and expert advice, and that means that people do need to understand that that may not mean a very...
