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

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 2:09 pm on 20 May 2020.

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Photo of Mark Drakeford Mark Drakeford Labour 2:09, 20 May 2020

Llywydd, can I thank Alun Davies for the assistance he has given, alongside his colleagues, in reflecting the views of the people that he represents? Because one of the core reasons why we are taking the approach we are taking is because of the very firm indications we were getting from the population of Blaenau Gwent and other communities that they were fearful of an approach in which lockdown would simply be lifted and we would return too quickly to the way things were before. We've listened very carefully to those views, which Alun Davies and others have faithfully represented to us, and it's made a real difference to our thinking. I can give him a complete assurance that we will continue to exercise our own judgment as to the right measures and the right timetable in which to implement them here in Wales.

And what I would say to those people who want to have more definite ideas of how we will move through the traffic light system is that every three weeks we have to report on the state of the regulations; every three weeks we are able to make adjustments to them. It will be Friday of next week now—we're halfway through, just over halfway through, the current three-week cycle—and by Friday of next week, we will have had to have made new decisions, which I think will take us further into that traffic light system. People who want to know more, I think, will be able to see—every three weeks at a minimum—how we plan to move Wales along the pathway that we have set out.