Part of 1. Questions to the Minister for Health and Social Services – in the Senedd at 1:37 pm on 11 March 2020.
Thank you for the questions. On personal protective equipment, I made the decision and the announcement over the weekend about protective equipment to go to general practice. We expect that to be completed within the week across the whole country, so, in Islwyn, obviously, I would expect that every practice within Islwyn will have that within that time frame. If any Member is aware that they have a local practice where that hasn't happened, then I'd be grateful to hear about that so that we can resolve it. I announced yesterday that community pharmacies will also be supplied with personal protective equipment and those supplies will be going out before the end of this week as well. So, having made the decision we'll be able to move rapidly, and we're in the fortunate position that we expect that Wales will have all of that equipment issued and in place within a shorter timescale than England—that's partly about the size and the logistics involved. So, we're in a good place there.
And I think it's an important point to reiterate as well, the things that the public can do themselves. The normal advice about 'catch it, bin it, kill it', wash your hands, but also the normal advice that we'd give and would ask you to follow if you've got significant flu-like symptoms, not to come into work; not to go into places where you're at risk of actually other people acquiring them, with significant consequences. That is normal advice; not just now, with coronavirus potentially circulating, that is normal advice that we would ask people to follow.
For people who are concerned and want medical attention, it's really important that people do not go into their local surgery or into a hospital. Please follow the advice to call 111. It's available across the whole country, and you should then be given advice and guidance on what to do. If you need to be tested, we've already been able to test over 90 per cent of people in their own homes, but also, there are now at least 11 drive-through testing centres across Wales. More are being created by different health boards, and those are for people who are advised to go and attend them. So we're doing all that we could and should do to keep people at home where they need to be, to give them the advice and the provision that they need, and again, if the position changes, then the Government and our chief medical officer, together with other Governments in the UK, will be clear about the reason for that change in advice and what we're then advising people to do. It really is important that all of us take on our individual responsibility as elected Members in what we do to keep our constituents safe, and what our constituents in turn do to keep themselves, their families and other people safe as well.