Vaughan Gething: ...a range of questions. There will be very similar questions as the ones asked in Caerphilly. It's Caerphilly plus the issues about restricting the hours of sales within licensed premises. On schools and individuals with caring responsibilities, even in the national lockdown, it was a reasonable excuse to visit another person in their home if you have caring responsibilities with and for...
Vaughan Gething: ...6 o'clock on Thursday, tomorrow, people living in Rhondda Cynon Taf will not be allowed to enter or leave the Rhondda Cynon Taf Council area without a reasonable excuse, such as travel for work or education. People will only be able to meet outdoors for the time being. People will not be able to meet members of their extended household indoors or to form an extended household for the time...
Vaughan Gething: ...families not wanting to see someone who has maybe been in three or four different houses in the same day. So, there are some challenges here. Also, for me, it reiterates the importance of keeping schools open. When you have a whole community of children going to that place, it's a protective environment, and we are able to understand and support children and their families in a way that we...
Vaughan Gething: ...switch our resources in Wales to deal with the challenge we have for that next few weeks, because the challenge that the lighthouse labs are facing comes at a considerably difficult period of time. Schools have gone back, universities will have gone back within three weeks, and so we know we're likely to see more pressure on the system, and I recognise the deep frustration of not just the...
Vaughan Gething: ...vulnerable populations and if we still have enough vaccine to then go out and have people over the age of 50 receiving the flu vaccine as well, as well as our in-any-event plan to have more pre-school and primary school-age children undertaking and receiving the vaccine as well. On dentistry, we expect more data to be provided in the NHS operational framework that I mentioned. This has...
Vaughan Gething: ...to be fair, the employer has recognised there is a need to revisit the guidance and the training that staff have to make sure there's proper adherence in the future. On the point made about the educational settings, I heard him make the same point to the First Minister as well, and of course we are debating the regulations that have already been passed as opposed to the as-yet-unfinished...
Vaughan Gething: ...tests, I don't think that the figures are accurate. I'll happily look at the figures again and come back, not just to the Member, but more generally, because social care workers, health workers and education workers are three of the priority groups for the antibody test. And the antibody test is actually to help us understand the prevalence of coronavirus around the country at this point....
Vaughan Gething: ..., so the tier 0 and tier 1 services, where they're relatively low level, will undoubtedly see more demand, just as will other areas where there's more significant demand. That's why myself and the education Minister made our announcement on providing more resource for children and young people, and it's why I'll continue to keep on looking at the mental health issues being raised not just...
Vaughan Gething: ...risk to both the patient and the person working in very close proximity to them. Just as we've had to balance all of the risks, the harms and the evidence that we have in the difficult decision the education Minister has made today about a different form of schools' operation for four weeks for the end of this school year, we have to think about the balance of risks for people working in...
Vaughan Gething: ...day, but you certainly couldn't have a wedding like that at this point in time. Then finally, on the balance of harms, you'll have seen that balance of harms in the difficult decision that the education Minister's made today. Balancing the harm that lockdown causes by schools being closed, needing and wanting to return in a way that is as safe as possible and not just in doing that, but...
Vaughan Gething: ...requirements are in place for click-and-collect style services, and extended the physical distancing duty to cafes accessible by the public in hospitals, and to those responsible for canteens in schools and prisons and for use by the armed forces to ensure that all reasonable measures are put in place. In the No. 3 regulations, we've taken steps, in line with public health and scientific...
Vaughan Gething: .... That doesn't mean, though, that we should be cavalier about our approach to young children and their care and treatment, and that's why this Government is taking a properly cautious approach to school opening, because we don't fully understand all of the evidence about the transmission both between children, and between children and adults of this particular virus, because there was real...
Vaughan Gething: ...of up to 3,760 medical, nursing, midwifery, allied health professional, paramedic and health scientist students as well. Working closely with NHS Wales Shared Services Partnership and Health Education and Improvement Wales, we've been able to make progress at this unprecedented time. And each of those students who undertake an offer will be paid in accordance with their time—it won't be...
Vaughan Gething: ...takes. The plan also includes information on the four-stage strategy: contain, delay, research and mitigate. We are now in the delay phase, which saw us take the difficult decision to close all schools across Wales from 20 March. As Members know, they are now being repurposed to allow critical workers to continue to return to work. We want to slow the spread of the virus, which is why...
Vaughan Gething: ...-patient appointments; the strengthening of regional partnership boards has positioned them to provide integrated health and social care responses to local communities; the establishment of Health Education and Improvement Wales is helping us to address the considerable workforce needs. I have also taken more difficult decisions so that we are ready to care for larger numbers of very...
Vaughan Gething: ...from trusted sources to our constituents. So that is information that the Governments of the UK are providing, including on the Welsh Government website, where we have got clear guidance for schools, and our guidance is that schools should remain open. There is no evidential basis to close schools now, and there's a challenge here about some people's perception that the Government should...
Vaughan Gething: ...value-for-money measures, we of course can't have any idea about what that is now, but we do understand some of the complexity of the level of bureaucracy and the demand. When we established Health Education Improvement Wales, the cost for establishing that was around £2.8 million. I couldn't tell you today what the cost of implementing and agreeing this proposal means just for the...
Vaughan Gething: ...is the current advice at all times of the year. Some major public events, as we've seen, have been cancelled or postponed outside Wales, to limit the risk of transmitting coronavirus. A number of schools have closed in other countries for similar reasons. These are possible future options for us too. We are, however, not at that stage. Schools should remain open, and there is no rationale...
Vaughan Gething: ...of Commons, to be able to help systems and services work more effectively in tackling the outbreak. The Bill will strengthen quarantine and mass gathering powers, and will allow for the closure of schools and colleges, if necessary, to contain the spread of coronavirus. All four UK Governments across the UK have agreed on a single piece of UK-wide legislation as the right approach....
Vaughan Gething: .... Thus far, I certainly think our broadcast media have been pretty responsible about their approach, and in promoting those essential and basic public health messages. Of course, the guidance for schools that we've issued, which, again, is available on the Welsh Government website, reiterates that advice as to what people should do, not necessarily opening or closing schools—the...
