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

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 2:04 pm on 26 August 2020.

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Photo of Mark Drakeford Mark Drakeford Labour 2:04, 26 August 2020

Llywydd, there were a large number of questions there. I'll try and address them briefly, each one.

I referred to the island of Ireland because the rise in coronavirus cases and the reimposition of restrictions has happened both in the Republic and in Northern Ireland as well and it is inevitable that there's an interplay between the circulation of the virus in one part of Ireland and another.

As far as Wrexham is concerned, numbers in Wrexham are down significantly this week. I think there was a 70 per cent fall in the number of new cases in Wrexham last week. At Wrexham Maelor Hospital, which has been one of the focuses of rising numbers previously, it's now 21 days in which one staff member in the hospital has fallen ill to a healthcare-acquired infection of coronavirus, and it's 18 days since the last patient became ill in the same way. The Rowan Foods outbreak was declared over on Friday of last week, there having been 28 days since any case there. So, while the Member is right to point to the fact that Wrexham has been a cause for concern, it's a rapidly improving picture there.