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

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 2:37 pm on 26 August 2020.

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Photo of Mark Drakeford Mark Drakeford Labour 2:37, 26 August 2020

Llywydd, can I thank Caroline Jones for those important questions? She will know that my colleague, Vaughan Gething, announced £32 million additional funding to support an expansion of our testing capacity as we go into the winter, where it will undoubtedly come under greater pressure because it's so difficult to distinguish between symptoms of colds, flus and coronavirus. Our TTP system has, I think, demonstrated its success here in Wales—90 per cent of index cases successfully contacted, 90 per cent of their contacts also successfully traced—but we've got to build on that and make sure that we're in a position to do more when the pressures grow. 

As to the testing of carers, I entirely understand why people who are responsible for looking after vulnerable individuals are anxious about those who come to provide that care. I hope they're able to draw some comfort from the fact that we have routinely tested carers in Wales, and the positivity rate amongst carers in Wales in the last period has been at 0.2 per cent. The virus is very effectively suppressed in Wales at the moment and that suppression has extended to carers as well, and our testing regime I think has demonstrated that. It's why we've been able to move to fortnightly testing of carers in residential care homes, and our testing system has capacity now to do more for those who feel that the nature of their work, or the nature of the care that they receive, needs more to be done in that area.