7. Statement by the First Minister: Coronavirus (COVID-19)

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 11:17 am on 24 March 2020.

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Photo of Mark Drakeford Mark Drakeford Labour 11:17, 24 March 2020

Dirprwy Lywydd, I thank the Member for his personal good wishes at the start, and it's very good to know that his own test proved negative and that he's able to be here this morning.

On the business of testing, of course we are aware of the advice of the World Health Organization, but that advice is mediated for us by the four chief medical officers and by the scientific advisory group, because the World Health Organization, it's a world body, its advice applies across a vast number of countries and it has to be then interpreted in the local context. And we test that regularly with the people who advise us. They're absolutely aware of the WHO advice and they make sure that they then give us the best advice as to how what the WHO is saying can be put to work in the local context. My colleague Vaughan Gething will say more, I'm sure, when he's answering questions, about the rapid rise in the number of tests we are going to be able to carry out here in Wales, and, particularly, in a point that Neil McEvoy made, how we can make sure that those people at the front line and who are out of work because they are self-isolating—how we can accelerate their return to the workplace.

I'm very aware of the points the Member made about people who are abroad. All of us, I'm sure, will be hearing from families in our constituencies who are in that position. My understanding is that the position in Peru has been resolved and that people are being brought home. What we do as a Government is to make sure that the Foreign and Commonwealth Office are alert to and know about the circumstances of Welsh citizens. We don't have a locus as a Welsh Government that allows us to negotiate directly with other foreign Governments—they will only deal with a state-level organisation. But we make sure that we collect information that Members pass to us and then advocate on behalf of those Welsh citizens with those who have the ability to make those decisions and to make them in a way that provides the help that people who are stuck elsewhere desperately need.