Protecting the Public from Coronavirus

Part of 3. Topical Questions – in the Senedd at 3:12 pm on 29 January 2020.

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Photo of Vaughan Gething Vaughan Gething Labour 3:12, 29 January 2020

On the last point, I'm happy to confirm that, of course, regular updates will be provided, where necessary by me, but there'll be regular updates through the chief medical officer's department about steps that are being taken.

I think, in terms of people entering the United Kingdom, those are matters that are outside the control of this Government. You will have seen that there are direct flights that the Foreign and Commonwealth Office are arranging for British nationals to come back into London and that those people will be—a dreadful, old-fashioned word—quarantined; there'll be a period of them being held to see if they are symptomatic. And we're looking to identify with the Foreign and Commonwealth Office how many Welsh nationals are going to be on that flight.

On the broader points about ports of entry, again, the actions have been agreed, through previous Cabinet Office Briefing Room engagement that has been taken by the UK Government, on ports of entry.

But I just want to deal with your first point, and that is about the coronavirus in the first place. There's obviously understandable concern. However, I think we should all take care in how we describe this particular virus; it is less severe than the previous outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome, and there were lots of concerns about the potential mortality for that. That's our current understanding. The risk to the UK is currently assessed as low. But the steps that are being taken are anticipatory to try to provide reassurance for our staff, but also for the wider public. I certainly don't want to add to the impression that a more significant health risk is on its way than is likely.

It's worth reflecting, for example, that we know that the flu makes people severely unwell and kills people every year, and yet, we still can't persuade people who are in a category where they can receive a free NHS vaccine, to take that up in the numbers we'd want them to. So, let's have some perspective on it. We'll be measured, we certainly won't be complacent, and the engagement between health Ministers across the four UK Governments will continue in the way that you would all expect it to, just as the regular contact between our four chief medical officers will continue as well.