Diolch, Dirprwy Lywydd. I formally move the amendment tabled in my name, and thank the Welsh Conservatives for bringing forward this important debate. Wales is one of the few places on earth where the wearing of face masks is not mandated. Just yesterday, the royal society published two reports highlighting the importance of wearing face coverings in public. Face masks can and do stop the spread of this virus. Welsh Government have opposed such a move because they believe that it will give people a sense of invincibility; that they'll suddenly forget everything they've been doing for the past 100 days or so. Yes, the need to maintain social distancing and good hand hygiene is important, and that doesn't go away because you wear a mask, but we have to gain every little advantage we can over this disease.

We cannot stay locked up forever. Our over-protective parent, the Welsh Government, cannot afford to pay for us to stay hidden away until they find a cure. As we return to some semblance of normal life, we need every protection possible. Wearing face masks in public is such a protection. The science is solid. Face coverings can prevent those infected with the SARS-CoV-2 virus from spreading it via microdroplets. There is also emerging evidence that the majority of infections occur during the pre-symptomatic phase or from asymptomatic carriers, and because the Welsh Government are only testing those with symptoms—and not doing that too well at the moment—we will, therefore, miss the majority of cases. If we mandate the wearing of face masks on all forms of public transport as an absolute minimum, we can help limit the spread of COVID-19.

Lockdown was effective; it was never meant to eliminate coronavirus. It was put in place to ensure that we didn't become overwhelmed, to give us time to prepare. And, in all fairness, it did work. We bought ourselves time, our NHS wasn't overwhelmed, but as we emerge from lockdown, we have to take the necessary precautions. Evidence emerging from some of the countries hardest hit by this pandemic shows that fewer than one in 10 have antibodies against the virus. COVID-19 is not done with us yet. We can't stay hidden away, so we must take every precaution. And all of us have a duty to protect our friends, our family, our neighbours and our countrymen. Social distancing works, but it is not practical. We can't continue to run public transport at a quarter of its capacity for the next one or two years whilst a vaccine is found, mass produced, and given to 7 billion people.

We are in the middle of a climate emergency, but instead of vastly cutting our emissions, we are increasing them. We have spent decades trying to encourage modal shift, telling people to abandon the car, to take the train or bus, and now we tell them to avoid public transport. And we cannot continue to do that. We have to put measures in place to mitigate the risks. Mandatory face masks is one such measure: no face mask, no journey. It's the only way we can ensure the safety of all passengers. Not everyone can work from home; people need to travel. Let's ensure that we do so as safely as we can, and not to support our amendment does send out mixed messages to the public and compromises public safety. So, there has to be consistency, and that's why I urge Members to support our amendment today. Diolch yn fawr.