Vaughan Gething: Thank you, Llywydd. I thank Members for their contributions and I thank the committee for their scrutiny. And on the broader points raised by both Andrew R.T. Davies and Rhun ap Iorwerth on the process, these are made in mind with the made-affirmative process that this Senedd has provided for. The Government is always open to conversations about how business is transacted, and, of course,...
Vaughan Gething: Thank you, Presiding Officer. These regulations today, as the explanatory memorandum sets out, have previously been laid twice before the Senedd, and it's my pleasure to move the regulations today. They were first laid on 17 March this year, and then withdrawn as a consequence of the COVID-19 pandemic, then re-laid on 8 July, but withdrawn in order to correct a minor technical scrutiny point...
Vaughan Gething: Thank you, Deputy Llywydd. I want to thank Mark Isherwood for bringing the cross-party group's report to the Chamber. I have listened carefully to what he has to say, and there are a range of valid points that I would agree with and I hope that I manage to touch on in the response. I am grateful to the cross-party group and to all those who took the time to share their professional and...
Vaughan Gething: Thank you, Llywydd. I formally move the four sets of motions containing regulations before us today, and ask Members to support them. These regulations were again introduced under the Public Health (Control of Disease) Act 1984 through our emergency procedures to support our ongoing approach to tackling coronavirus. Members will know that the Welsh Government takes a careful and...
Vaughan Gething: The regulations we’re debating today were introduced over a period from 7 September to 17 September. They demonstrate the swift but necessary actions the Welsh Government has had to take to respond to the recent rise in the number of cases in certain parts of Wales. To ensure that we're equipped to do so, we’ve increased the powers of local authorities and implemented local restrictions...
Vaughan Gething: Thank you, Llywydd. I thank the Members for their contribution to the debate. I'll try to deal with each one in turn briefly. Starting with Andrew R.T. Davies, I obviously regret the approach that he and his group are taking. From what they say, they're abstaining not because they disagree with the measures or that the measures that are being put in place are somehow not appropriate, but it's...
Vaughan Gething: Thank you, Llywydd, for the opportunity to update Members today about the latest situation across Wales. The First Minister, myself and the Minister for north Wales have just come from a meeting with local authority leaders, the police, the NHS and public health experts to discuss the rise of coronavirus infections in parts of north Wales. Unfortunately, we are seeing a similar pattern of...
Vaughan Gething: Thank you for those comments and questions; I'll try and deal with all of them as quickly as I can. In terms of how the decision making works and the example of the Vale of Glamorgan and others, well, we of course look at the figures and the statistics, so we look at figures on the number of positive cases per 100,000. We have to take into account the fact that we understand that those...
Vaughan Gething: And on his point about these are really not local measures, the Member is quite simply wrong. These are local restrictions within a local authority area. That is where the measures apply; that is where the point about the reasonable excuse and the travel measures apply. It is the case that if local authorities move at different rates and different paces in terms of their recovery and their...
Vaughan Gething: In terms of your point about local action as opposed to countywide action, I think I've dealt with that in response to Andrew R.T. Davies. It's a regular part of consideration, and you'll see that we've made that choice within Carmarthenshire. We regularly consider the advice that we get from the local incident management teams on the pattern of infection that exists, and we then have to make...
Vaughan Gething: Thank you to the Member for Islwyn, and I'm happy to confirm that Islwyn residents are indeed making a difference. Caerphilly county borough had, as you say, the highest rate in Wales only a few weeks ago; it's now falling—it's hovering around 50 per 100,000. We want to see that fall, and be a sustained fall, under 50 per 100,000, to allow us to consider returning freedoms that we have had...
Vaughan Gething: On your final point, I'll look again at the issue, because we do have regular conversations with faith leaders, but this is about keeping people alive in the first instance and how we then try to keep them well, and these are significant intrusions into how people live their lives. I have recognised that not just today, but on many other occasions. What we want to do is to try to take an...
Vaughan Gething: Thank you for the questions, which I'll deal with in turn. In terms of lone adult households, we have to consider the balance of harm and benefit, and I've answered two questions in this set of questions already on exactly that point, and the First Minister answered questions as well, so the Member will be familiar with the fact that it's a whole-Government consideration, it's under active...
Vaughan Gething: Thank you for the question. Whilst we have seen a rapid increase in cases in some areas, the specific advice to people in the former shielding group has not changed at this point in time. They do not need to take the strict shielding measures at this time. The Chief Medical Officer for Wales is liaising with CMO colleagues across the UK on advice to this group on minimising their risk of...
Vaughan Gething: Thank you for the follow-up question. Of course, we had an opportunity to discuss some of this in the Health, Social Care and Sport Committee earlier this morning. So, as well as a direct contact that we expect from CMO correspondence with people in that former shielded category, we'll use the variety of our channels, and, to be fair, there's been such interest in the former shielded group...
Vaughan Gething: I'm very happy to reiterate the thanks that myself and other Ministers, and other leaders of local authorities in every part of Wales, have given to all those people who've volunteered to help other people out, that's both in combating loneliness and isolation and helping with services, from the specific schemes we've had to delivering pharmacy medication to, if you like, the wider...
Vaughan Gething: That's an important point, I think, from Vikki Howells about the practical support that people have been provided with. The food delivery scheme actually didn't reach huge numbers of people, because they didn't need it. Everyone who needed it had a delivery from the free food scheme, but, once supermarkets had significantly expanded their own online delivery slots and prioritised people on...
Vaughan Gething: Thank you. This winter, with the continued presence, indeed the resurgence, of COVID-19, we want to ensure that more people than ever receive the flu vaccine. That is why we have extended the eligibility criteria. We're working with key partners to maximise the uptake of the flu vaccine, and additional vaccine supply will be available to support anticipated increased demand.
Vaughan Gething: Thank you for those questions. And it is a really important campaign, this year more than ever. In an average flu season, 8,000 to 10,000 people across the UK lose their lives as a result of flu, so this is a significant cause of mortality in normal times. Given the additional risk of corconavirus, it's even more important than ever that we have people taking up the offer of a free NHS flu...
Vaughan Gething: There's a mix in terms of the provision. So the UK Government normally procure flu vaccine supplies for across the UK, and that's where we've agreed to have an increased UK procurement exercise, and a range of GP practices also procure their own as well. We are aware of some challenges in supply and those are short-term matters, is our understanding. So, for example, one of the major...
