Coronavirus

Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 2:18 pm on 17 March 2020.

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Photo of Mark Drakeford Mark Drakeford Labour 2:18, 17 March 2020

Well, I agree with Dr Lloyd about the human toll that coronavirus will take and the pressures already faced by people working in the sector, but I think it's very important that we say to them, and to people who will be anxious about what the coming weeks will bring, that the efforts that are being made across the United Kingdom are designed to affect the progress of the disease, so that the demand on the health service is smoothed as much as we can to make the demand on our health services, both the physical equipment but also the human resources of the health service—to be able to make that as manageable as it can be. We have huge pluses here in Wales, as well as challenges, in the dedication and the determination of our staff, of the willingness of our population to take those collective actions that will make the greatest difference. So, in the difficult days that are ahead, we have to find ways of making the most of the assets that we have, to take the right decisions that individually as well as collectively we can all take, because in that way, together, we will make the biggest difference and make the impact of this disease as capable of being managed as possible.