Part of 9. Topical Question 2 – in the Senedd at 6:25 pm on 26 February 2020.
Yes. Look, I recognise completely the second point about wanting to provide guidance and set out some expectations about how businesses behave. But, of course, we don't have specific powers to compel businesses to do so, and this is an active conversation between the four UK Governments as well about wanting to have as consistent an approach as possible on the advice and guidance that we do give.
On the point about self-isolation, I think the most helpful thing is to repeat the advice that's been given—that self-isolation means to stay indoors and avoid contact with other people, as you would do if you had the flu, and some simple messages of 'catch it, kill it, bin it' to make it clear that you're not simply leaving around the opportunity for transmission, in exactly the way that we do with the seasonal flu campaign every year, to behave in that way as if you had the flu— and that point, I think, is well made—and to make remote contact and not attend a national health service facility if you are symptomatic and you have returned from one of the particular travel areas. And, within that, the advice differs, and so I think it's really important for people who are concerned to look at the advice that is available. If you've returned from a particular part of the world—. There are some countries where, if you've returned within the last 14 days—since 19 February, in specific areas—even if people are not symptomatic, they're asked to self-isolate. But that is very specific: that relates to Iran and the specific locked-down towns in northern Italy and special care zones of South Korea—in those circumstances, to self-isolate. But, in others, to make sure that, if you have returned to us, if you become symptomatic, to self-isolate, but there is no need to self-isolate if you have been travelling through Vietnam, for example, but are not symptomatic.
So, it's important to look at the advice and to follow it, and that is the best way for people to behave to make sure that we do all that we could and should do to properly protect the health of the public in a phase where we're still looking at the potential containment of coronavirus. If that were to move on, which was the final point that Andrew R.T. Davies made, then we'll provide further advice and guidance to people in Wales, but, of course, we'll be looking to make sure that there is a consistent message across the United Kingdom.