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

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 1:57 pm on 8 April 2020.

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Photo of Adam Price Adam Price Plaid Cymru 1:57, 8 April 2020

If we turn to PPE, you recognised, First Minister, that PPE is, obviously, a concern. The Royal College of Nursing say that they have repeatedly asked the Welsh Government to share the distribution schedule for PPE so that they can reassure their members. Can you give a commitment today that that will now happen? And can you say by what date all of the front-line staff that you have identified as needing PPE will receive it in the quantities required?

Because of the bottlenecks in PPE that you referred to, some public bodies—Carmarthenshire County Council, for example—are beginning to procure directly from China themselves. What steps are you taking, as a Government, as a complement to the UK-wide approach that you referred to, to procure additional resources internationally? In particular, what approaches have you made, either directly as Ministers or officials, to the Chinese Government and to Chinese suppliers, where, of course, the majority of sources reside?

International experience suggests that earlier intervention can keep the unwell out of hospital and aid recovery. Physicians in Italy, for example, suggest that early oxygen therapy and pulse oximeters delivered at the homes of the mildly ill would limit hospitalisation. Will you confirm whether or not you are actively looking at such a new treatment regime? 

If I could turn to ventilators, I think between those we currently have and those that are on order we have just over 1,000 invasive ventilators, I believe, that will be available to us. When will we know whether that supply—that projected supply—will be enough to meet the current projected peak demand?

On 12 March, the policy of widespread community testing was discontinued. Professor Anthony Costello, professor of global health at University College London and a former director of the World Health Organization, says that case detection, tracking and isolation will get the epidemic down much quicker. Are you going to adopt this approach of testing, tracing and isolation in Wales?

And finally, following your confirmation that Roche were the company involved in the collapsed deal, will you now publish the agreement that existed between the Welsh Government and the company? If you're unwilling to do so now, will you at least commit today to do so at the earliest possible opportunity, once a semblance of normality has returned? And in terms of the numbers of tests now, would it be possible for us to have daily figures for the number of tests, as happens in Scotland, for example, so we can track progress towards the figure of 9,000, I believe—perhaps you could confirm that—of daily tests that you're aiming to achieve by the end of this month?