Reducing the Risk of COVID-19 Infections

Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 11:18 am on 8 July 2020.

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Photo of Dawn Bowden Dawn Bowden Labour 11:18, 8 July 2020

Thank you for the answers to Delyth Jewell's question, First Minister, and thank you, also, for your acknowledgement of the work that's been going on there with the company, with the council and with other partners for some considerable weeks before this.

Can I thank the incident management team in Merthyr Tydfil and the Welsh Government for the updates on the incident? That's been invaluable in keeping us informed. So far, it is encouraging to hear that this incident remains contained and that there is no evidence, at this stage, of community transmission, and I thank everyone involved in co-operating to ensure that that remains the case. However, in light of this incident, can you advise me as to whether any other large workplaces in the area, particularly those with similar environmental characteristics that may not always be able to manage social distancing, are also to be inspected and their workforces tested?

And can I ask what measures the IMT are putting in place to ensure that issues of community cohesion are also addressed, given that there's a very large eastern European migrant workforce at these plants?