1. Statement by the First Minister: Coronavirus (COVID-19)

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 2:18 pm on 5 August 2020.

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Photo of Mark Drakeford Mark Drakeford Labour 2:18, 5 August 2020

Llywydd, I thank Lynne Neagle for that. I'm happy to repeat the Welsh Government's position that the reopening of schools will have the top priority in whatever capacity we have to go on lifting lockdown measures in the second half of this month and into September. Our approach to dealing with any flare-ups we see as a result of other measures we have already taken will be similar to that that you have seen in Scotland today and in England already—that we will introduce local lockdown measures effectively to suppress the circulation of the virus in those localities, as I think we have demonstrated we were able to do in Ynys Môn, in Merthyr Tydfil, during the earlier part of last month.

The range of measures that we will take on a local basis will depend upon the nature of the outbreak. There will be a menu of actions that local outbreak-control teams will be able to draw on. My colleague, Vaughan Gething, will be publishing further information for Members, I think next week, hopefully, which will set out our approach to how a local lockdown might be triggered, who will have the powers to take actions, what the menu of actions might be, and what the process will be for withdrawing from a local lockdown as its effectiveness takes hold. In that way, we hope that we will able to avoid the need to take nationwide measures, particularly measures that would have an impact on children.

As far as supermarkets are concerned, my colleague Lesley Griffiths met with the supermarkets in Wales this morning. She emphasised to them that the law is different in Wales, that they have a legal obligation—not simply advice—that requires them to take all reasonable measures to make sure that their premises are safe for staff and for people who shop in them. She received a series of assurances from the sector, and an undertaking that they would go away and look at some of the complaints that have come into my office and to other Members here—their offices—as well, about the way in which some supermarkets are operating locally.

They are very, very important sectors, and they have managed fantastically, during the coronavirus crisis, to keep open and to go on feeding people in Wales and the rest of the United Kingdom. But they have responsibility as well and, here in Wales, we are very determined that we will make that responsibility clear to them, and that they must live up to it.