Face Coverings

Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 11:22 am on 8 July 2020.

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Photo of Mark Drakeford Mark Drakeford Labour 11:22, 8 July 2020

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.