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

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 1:59 pm on 26 August 2020.

Alert me about debates like this

Photo of Mark Reckless Mark Reckless Conservative 1:59, 26 August 2020

Thank you for your statement, First Minister. You said that, in Wales, the coronavirus was effectively suppressed. You then went on to contrast that with the wider UK context, saying it has become more challenging, with rising numbers and reimposed restrictions across the island of Ireland, which was included in the UK context, and in both Scotland and England. Is it the case that Wrexham has had the highest infection rate of anywhere in the UK? If so, that wasn't clear from your statement. What do you propose to do about that, if so?

On the issue of school masks and requiring some secondary school children potentially in some contexts to wear those, what is the situation in Wales? I understand that the committee was meeting last night to advise, but surely when we're having this Plenary session, and you as First Minister are giving an update, is it not right that you should tell us what is proposed in terms of wearing masks in secondary schools or not, so you can be questioned and scrutinised on that by Members of the Senedd?

You mentioned extending the season in terms of tourism, and certainly that would be welcome, albeit weather dependent. Is it not the case, though, that the message has gone out too often that people aren't welcome in Wales or that Wales has been closed down for longer or more stringently, and will that not put people off potentially coming for our tourist industry?

I welcome the general liberalising trend of amending regulations. I think we're voting on three of those later, which we propose to support, except for amendment No. 4. Clearly, it's good to see swimming pools and various other facilities reopening, but if the virus is effectively suppressed in Wales, as you said, why is it necessary or proportionate to be giving additional powers to enforcement officers to be going around issuing enforcement and closure notices and again trying to micromanage and mandate across Wales what every business will do, as if the Welsh Government is the fount of all knowledge, rather than believing and testing and allowing common sense from businesses who know their businesses and the people who use them best to come to sensible decisions? We question whether you have the balance right in that area.

You mentioned that while there has been some uptick in cases across the UK, on a UK and Wales basis, we've had a much better trend in terms of deaths, but also in terms of hospital and ICU admissions, and I just wonder what assessment you make of that. Is it simply a question of the cohort, of the nature and type of people and particularly age of those who are being tested and found in some cases to be positive, or is there more promising developments—some improvement in treatment that we have? Is there any possibility that the virus is becoming less fatal or less damaging and how much longer will we have to see death rates remain this low, given the case rate, before you begin wondering whether that might be the case?

Finally, in the comparison you make across Europe, with many EU countries now being higher than the UK, you didn't mention Sweden, which, of course, has been coming down and is now significantly below many of the European countries that imposed very stringent lockdowns. Does that not show the advantages of trusting in people's common sense, rather than trying to micromanage everything from the centre, and is it possible that your restrictions and management of the coronavirus have the effect of dragging out the pandemic for a longer period? Thank you.