Reducing the Risk of COVID-19 Infections

Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 11:14 am on 8 July 2020.

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Photo of Mark Drakeford Mark Drakeford Labour 11:14, 8 July 2020

Llywydd, can I thank the Member for that question? Of course, concerns about the factory were raised by my colleague Dawn Bowden, and those concerns were taken up not simply with the local authority, but with other authorities that have a responsibility for ensuring safety at the plant. That is now overseen by an outbreak control team, which is drawn from the local authority, the local health board, Public Health Wales, the environmental health department, the Food Standards Agency and the Health and Safety Executive. That team is investigating the causes of the number of cases we have seen at Kepak Merthyr.

It is still unclear in the advice that I have seen as to whether or not the rise in cases was caused at the factory, or was imported into the factory from the community. That work continues to go on, and the Welsh Government is regularly updated on the meetings of that team—there's one today—and we will be guided by their investigations and the recommendations that I expect to hear from them.