2. What plans does the Welsh Government have to review its guidance on the use of face coverings by members of the public? OQ55432

Llywydd, the Welsh Government guidance encourages but does not mandate the use of three-layer face coverings in public settings where social distancing is not possible. That guidance is kept continually under review.

Thank you, First Minister. We now know that the SARS-CoV-2 virus can be spread not just by coughs and sneezes, but be carried in microdroplets and that it can be spread by asymptomatic carriers. Microdroplets are generated by breathing and talking. We also know that face coverings can help to catch microdroplets and prevent the spread of coronavirus. So, why, then, is Wales one of the only countries in the world that does not mandate the use of face coverings in some settings? I would like to see face coverings mandatory in all public settings.

First Minister, will you now commit to the mandatory requirements of face coverings on public transport and an urgent review into whether that guidance should extend to all public places? Diolch.

Well, Llywydd, what I commit to is to keeping the issue continuously under review and to take the advice of those who are best placed to provide that advice to us. And the context changes and the advice may change, and if the advice changes, then our position in Wales will change as well.

But I should say to the Member, wearing a face covering is not by itself a magic bullet that prevents people from contracting or spreading coronavirus. Our own chief medical officer has always had an anxiety, and it's an anxiety I see being shared in other parts of the world, that when people wear a face covering, they act in ways that they wouldn't if they weren't wearing it; and they act in riskier ways as well. The belief that by wearing a face covering it is somehow all right not to observe social distancing, for example, not to take care in how you put it on and how you take it off, not to avoid touching your face, because we know that that is one of the ways in which the virus is most likely to be spread.

So, while the Member makes a persuasive case, and I listened to it very carefully, for what she advocates, I think it is important that we attend to the fact that there are potential downsides as well as upsides to this; that's why we keep it continuously under review. And if the position changes, then the Welsh Government's position will change as well.

Does the First Minister agree with me that it's both farcical and confusing to have a different approach from one side of the border to the other, especially when you consider the amount of people travelling on a daily basis from one side to another? Can the First Minister assure me that he'll put aside his difference and his need to be different from England for the sake of being different, and do what the union Unite suggests and urgently review the guidance to adopt a more commonsense approach?

Llywydd, I welcome the Member back to the Chamber, and I think she has just said what I said, which is that we do keep it continuously under review. And I'm very alert to the impact of the border here. There are actions on either side of the border. It is not a matter of England makes a change and Wales must follow. It would be perfectly possible to have had a conversation with the UK Government where we could have reached a joint position; unfortunately, that conversation was never offered to us.

But the Member makes an important point about consistency along the border, and that is very much in my mind as we continuously review our position in relation, both to face coverings, but other changes that have been made elsewhere as well.

Rhianon Passmore. Rhianon Passmore, we can't hear you at the moment. Can you say something? No, we still can't hear you. Can it be immediately rectified, or I'm going to have to move on? No, I'm sorry, we're going to have to move on, Rhianon Passmore.