The next item is a statement by the Minister for Health and Social Services on the local coronavirus restrictions in Caerphilly borough and Rhondda Cynon Taf. I call on the Minister to make the statement—Vaughan Gething.

Thank you, Llywydd, and thank you for the opportunity to update Members today about the very latest situation affecting parts of south Wales. Over the last few weeks, we have seen a rise in the number of new cases of coronavirus in Wales overall and in four local authority areas in particular: in Caerphilly, in Merthyr Tydfil, in Rhondda Cynon Taf and Newport. This increase is largely being driven by people returning from holidays in continental Europe, where we have also seen higher rates of coronavirus in recent months, becoming infected with coronavirus and, crucially, as people start to socialise more and we see a reduction in adherence to social distancing. Unfortunately, as people have socialised more, they've forgotten to keep their distance from each other, making it easier for coronavirus to spread from one person to another. We've also seen an increase in house parties and at-home gatherings over the summer.

I published the Welsh Government coronavirus control plan last month. That sets out the range of actions that we would take to respond to local outbreaks and hotspots of coronavirus, should they arise. I'm pleased to report again that our contact tracing teams have worked exceptionally well over recent weeks to trace the contacts of more than 90 per cent of people who have tested positive and their close contacts. From this information, we've been able to identify clusters in these four local authority areas of concern, and with the addition of extra community testing, pinpoint the moment where we have seen community transmission begin in two of those authorities.

We reached that point in the Caerphilly County Borough Council area last week, and unfortunately, I have today had to announce we have also reached that point where we need to introduce local restrictions across Rhondda Cynon Taf. Llywydd, I'll focus the remainder of my statement on the reasons why we're taking action in Rhondda Cynon Taf, but I want to make it clear that we are working closely with local authorities in all areas where we see increased cases, and we review the situation daily about the need for additional measures.

The very latest figures, published this afternoon, show the rolling seven-day average of new cases rate is 82.1 per 100,000 people in Rhondda Cynon Taf. The seven-day rolling average for Rhondda Cynon Taf yesterday was 68.4. Yesterday's published positivity testing rate was 4.3 per cent; that has increased to 5.1 per cent in the data published today. That is the highest positivity rate in Wales.

Our contact tracing teams have been able to trace about half of the cases we are seeing back to a series of clusters in the borough. The rest are not linked to those clusters and suggest that we are now seeing evidence of community transmission. There are a number of clusters in Rhondda Cynon Taf, two of which are significant. One is associated with a rugby club and pub in the lower Rhondda and the other with a club outing to the Doncaster races, which stopped off at a series of pubs on the way. Just as in Caerphilly borough, we have seen a rapid increase in cases over a short period. These are mainly linked to people socialising without social distancing and meeting in each other's homes. We have also seen some cases linked, as I say, to people returning from overseas holiday.

The local authority in Rhondda Cynon Taf has been proactive in visiting premises throughout the borough over the last week in particular to check compliance with the law and the measures we all need to be taking to protect each other from coronavirus. These checks have resulted in improvement notices being served on seven supermarkets, which have now been complied with. A bar has been closed in Pontypridd after a series of breaches were captured on CCTV, a licensed premises was closed in Tonypandy and improvement notices served on another bar in Pontypridd and a barbers in Tonypandy. A further 50 licensed premises were visited by council officers over the weekend and more enforcement action, either in the form of improvement notices or closure orders, is likely to follow. 

Taken together, this rapid rise in cases, with evidence of community transmission throughout Rhondda Cynon Taf and the evidence of non-compliance in many licensed premises across the borough, means that we need to introduce local restrictions in the area to control and, ultimately, reduce the spread of the virus and to protect people's health. As the cause of transmission is similar to what we have seen in Caerphilly, the restrictions will be similar. But action will also be taken to end the late-night opening of all licensed premises in Rhondda Cynon Taf. I want to be clear that we are seeing cases throughout the borough, meaning the restrictions must apply to the whole area.

From 6 o'clock on Thursday, tomorrow, people living in Rhondda Cynon Taf will not be allowed to enter or leave the Rhondda Cynon Taf Council area without a reasonable excuse, such as travel for work or education. People will only be able to meet outdoors for the time being. People will not be able to meet members of their extended household indoors or to form an extended household for the time being. All licensed premises will have to close by 11 o'clock in the evening, and everyone over 11 must, as in the rest of the country, wear face coverings in indoor places. We will keep these measures under constant review and they will be formally reviewed in two weeks' time.

In the week since local restrictions were introduced in the Caerphilly County Borough Council area, there are some grounds for cautious optimism. We have seen a small fall in both the seven-day rate of new cases and the positivity rate, although these do remain high. The police have reported very high levels of compliance with the restrictions, and I want to thank everyone living in the area for their help over the last week and for the support we've seen from public services right across the Caerphilly borough. It is only by working together that we will be able to reduce coronavirus, protect ourselves and our loved ones and to keep Wales safe.

Thank you, Minister, for your statement this afternoon. I think it is a slight variation on the statement that was issued earlier in the day, and so I look forward to reading the detailed statement that you've just given to Plenary this afternoon. I do notice that, in the remarks in the statement that was issued earlier and the one that you addressed to the Chamber, the word 'lockdown' was not used at all, yet if you go on to any social media platform or mainstream media, the word screaming out at you is that RCT has gone into 'lockdown'. I presume this is a deliberate change of language from the Minister and his officials, because most people associate the word 'lockdown' with, obviously, the national lockdown that happened in March, and obviously these new controls are nowhere near as severe as those introduced at the national lockdown. But I'd be grateful if you could clarify exactly why the word 'lockdown' hasn't been used by you, and if it is a word that the Welsh Government are trying to avoid, then what liaisons have you had with the media and other outlets to try and phrase the language so that people who are affected by these new restrictions can get first-class information and can adhere to the requests that you are making of them. Because, as you said in your statement, it's quite clearly down to personal responsibility and people responding to the requests—the virus has not gone away and there are actions that they need to take.

And with that first-class information that needs to be conveyed, I do regret that local Members were not taken into confidence about this announcement today. As I understand it, obviously Welsh Government chose to put itself up to the press conference last night, so I assume this announcement was, well in advance, considered by Welsh Government, and I think it would have been most helpful if local Members could have been taken into confidence or, if some local Members were taken into confidence, why not all local Members? Could you confirm who exactly did have a briefing prior to this announcement in the press conference at 12.30 p.m.? Two simple requests that have come into my office since this announcement: a lady who is enjoying a holiday in Tenby, for example, with her family now wonders whether she needs to be back in Aberdare before 6 o'clock tomorrow night. Well, clearly, I don't think that's the case because these are local restrictions. Another request that came in was about driving lessons and driving tests, because they're using the Merthyr test centre—would they be able to undertake the test now in Merthyr because they live in Aberdare. Those are just two very simple things for which, as a local Member, I certainly would have benefited from some form of briefing from officials so that I could have requested a more detailed briefing and understand it so that I could convey proper, sound information back to constituents, so that people don't end up falling foul through misinformation. I wonder whether such a briefing could be furnished in the coming days to local Members so that they can obviously assist their constituents. 

I'd also like to try to understand—in your statement, you say that, in the next two weeks, the new restrictions will be reviewed. What will be the threshold that you will be looking for that would lighten the load on some of these restrictions and start a rollback from the RCT area to get back to, maybe, what other parts of Wales comply with at the moment? I think it's important that people understand, whilst these restrictions come in at 6 o'clock tomorrow night, what we are aiming for in the next two weeks and what the numbers are that you as a Minister and your officials will be looking at to make sure that that is the case. 

My final request to you is: in England information obviously is power in making these decisions and, in England, it is published on a local authority basis on a weekly level and, especially by ward level, that information is made available in council areas. You go out here today into the Bay area and you see people enjoying the late-summer sun that we're enjoying at the moment, and you wouldn't say there was a care in the world, yet just a couple of miles from here, two areas are under severe restrictions because of the coronavirus outbreak. Wouldn't it be a good use of information to make that available, as England do, on a ward-by-ward basis so people can understand the level of infection that is circulating in their community and can make sure that they are doing all they can to support their community in bearing down on this virus? If it can be done in England, why can't it be done in Wales? I hope you will give us a positive response in your answer. 

Thank you for the questions. On the starting point about the terminology used, we're using the terminology that's set out in our coronavirus control plan. I accept completely that it's being reported as a local lockdown, just as Caerphilly was, and I actually don't think it makes a lot of sense for the Government to try to fight a battle to persuade the public or the media not to describe this in the way that they are already—in the way they've been described in Scotland and in England. These restrictions are all referred to by the public at large as 'local lockdowns'. I'm using the language that we've used in our coronavirus control plan, and it's not the same as the national lockdown we went into, but that is because we are trying to address the challenges that we see and that we face. Further measures are, of course, possible, and different measures are possible in different parts of the country. If the pattern of infection and the reason why cases are rising in different parts of Wales differ to those in Caerphilly or RCT, then we may well have different measures, should we need—and it's a 'should'—to introduce local restrictions in other parts of Wales. 

The information is pretty clear, I think, on the restrictions. These are essentially the same measures as have been introduced in Caerphilly, together with a restriction on the opening hours of licensed premises. And that comes because there's evidence in RCT of pubs being a particular centre in the way that infections have been spread, but also more significant evidence of a range of licensed premises that have not been following the rules. It's a deliberate choice not to close every single licensed premises and prevent them all from opening at all, and that is because there is a range of premises that are following the rules, and we know that if people are drinking in a licensed premises, they're more likely to be monitored and behave differently, whereas if we encourage people to displace that activity outside pubs, then people are likely to carry on drinking at home and more likely to have people around into their homes, not just in breach of the new restrictions we've put in place, but we know consistently that it's contact in private dwellings that has led to the largest amount of coronavirus re-spreading. 

In terms of the decision, there's been very little time in terms of the decision. The decision wasn't finally made and concluded until about 12.20 p.m. today, and I was then in the press conference at 12.30 p.m. I was expecting to send a slightly different message in the press conference on perhaps discussing some of the challenges we spent lots of time yesterday going through in this Chamber on testing. In the end, we've had to make a choice on local restrictions, and I do not think it would have been appropriate to have made that decision 10 minutes before the press conference, give an entirely different press conference, and then made a different statement shortly afterwards. And I did ensure that a statement was circulated to Members before, albeit literally a minute or two before I was on my feet in the press conference, and we made clear we had contact with the Presiding Officer's office to make sure I could attend today to give this oral statement and answer questions directly. 

In terms of the guidance, you'll see, as I say, because the guidance relating to Caerphilly—it's very similar guidance for RCT, as I say, with the additional point about licensed premises. In the coronavirus control plan, we have a two-week review commitment, so we have to review the measures we've introduced today within two weeks, but there is a daily review of the position in each local authority. So, again, if we have intelligence of a need to introduce different measures, we may do that before the two-week review, but I expect it'll take a slightly longer period of time to see a sustained fall in numbers of new cases and, indeed, of the positivity rate in terms of those measures we'll be looking for before we look to reduce or remove the measures in place.

But, crucially, there's the local intelligence we'll also get from our test, trace, protect system on community transmission. Because, as the First Minister said yesterday, and as we've said on a number of occasions in the past, when we previously saw significant outbreaks in both Anglesey and in Wrexham, and a significant incident at the Kepak plant in Merthyr Tydfil, we understood who that cluster was. We could trace people back and we had confidence we weren't seeing community transmission, so we didn't need to take whole-community measures. What we understand here is we are seeing community transmission, and we can't have the smarter lockdown that TTP allows us to introduce. 

Those are the reasons that underpin the choices we've made today, and I'll of course look at the Member's final point about whether ward-by-ward information is available to publish on a more regular basis. But we do, as every Member knows, publish daily figures and daily updates on the position across each local authority area. 

I'm disappointed but I'm not surprised that Rhondda Cynon Taf is to be placed in lockdown. We were warned that this would happen if transmission rates increased, and they have, and a number of events and locations have been pinpointed in the statement. But I want to focus on the testing capacity here in the Rhondda. For coronavirus tests to be limited to just 60 a day by the UK Government at the testing facility that was set up in the Rhondda was an absolute outrage. The rationing of testing when the virus is spreading makes no sense to me. We know from countries that have coped better during this pandemic that tracking, tracing and isolating is key in stopping the spread. So, I want to know what additional testing capacity we can expect to see in the Rhondda this week, because we need it now. We can't wait a couple of weeks for the UK Government to sort their act out. I also want to know why this Labour Government is putting so much faith in the Tory Government to do the right thing. We all know that that is risky. People's freedoms are going to be restricted now, and I want to know how we can make it as easy as possible for people to be able to isolate if that is what they need to do. A lot of people are still reeling from the financial hit of the first lockdown, and now they have to face this as well. So, how can it be made easier for people to be able to isolate without losing income, and will you be able to make some financial support available to those whose income and businesses will be affected? 

And my final question is this reasoning about keeping pubs and clubs open. If you know that the spread has occurred because of transmission in pubs and clubs—yes, it's great that Rhondda Cynon Taf council are inspecting pubs and clubs and other establishments and making sure that they comply with the rules, but, surely, keeping pubs and clubs open when the spread is happening in pubs and clubs doesn't make a lot of sense to many people. So, can you further outline your reasoning for keeping pubs and clubs open, because I can't see that many people purchasing alcohol after 11 o'clock? So, that seems like a limited measure in terms of dealing with that particular point.

Thank you for the series of questions. I've set out in some detail over the weekend and yesterday the very real challenges and frustrations that came from a decision at official level within the UK Government to restrict lighthouse lab testing to centres to 60 per day in Wales, in Northern Ireland, and similar restrictions in Scotland too. That's why I had rapid conversations with other health Minister colleagues in other nations, and why, at 11:30 on Saturday morning, I was talking to Matt Hancock. We've seen an improvement in that, but there is definite learning to take from that, and there's learning to be taken within the UK programme about making choices that affect every UK nation. But they did it on the basis of only looking at English data, and that's why they had to recover the position and reintroduce testing facilities that should not have been removed. That's plainly unacceptable—I've made that very clear in conversations with the UK Government, as indeed have other health Ministers for Scotland and Northern Ireland.

We need to be in a position where, if the UK programme can't carry on delivering the number of samples each day, each of the respective nations makes choices about how to deploy those resources. Because we do see higher incidence areas, where it's more important in those areas for people to have access to a test. We also know that it'll take a number of weeks for those challenges to be resolved at a UK level. That's why—. And I'll deal with your point about further testing as well. But, in terms of the UK programme, of course, Scotland and Northern Ireland take part, and they have significant reliance on the UK programme. It's not something we'll receive a consequential for if we withdraw from that programme; it's a programme that I take part in and have access to the tests that it provides. And, up until about three weeks ago, it was a pretty decent turnaround in performance. We need to see it return to that level with the new equipment that I understand is due to be invested. But it puts all of us in a very difficult position in looking to run an effective testing programme together with the very high performing test, trace and protect service we have here in Wales.

In Rhondda Cynon Taf, we'll be maintaining the mobile site in Clydach Vale—that's now going to be extended to Monday at least. We're also looking to have another mobile test unit in the Abercynon area; hopefully, that'll be available tomorrow. I've announced today that we'll have five additional mobile testing units. We'll be running their tests through Public Health Wales, not lighthouse labs, and they're going to be split in the first instance between the Aneurin Bevan health board area and Cwm Taf Morgannwg, where we see the highest levels of need and demand. And we're also looking, over the next—. By the end of next week, I expect us to be in a position where we'll have additional lanes through all of the drive-in centres. Again, those additional lanes will offer opportunities for people to be tested and then to have those results analysed in our Public Health Wales laboratories. So, that's the proactive action we're already taking to fill some of the gap being created until the lighthouse lab programme recovers from the current position, where it's not able to turnaround its lab capacity.

In terms of support for self-isolation, this is a matter I've raised several times, not just in public, but in conversation with the UK Government, with the support of other health Ministers too. If we don't support people to do the right thing, then making a choice between staying at home on statutory sick pay, potentially, and not being able to afford to pay your bills, or risking your own health and that of others but being able to pay your bills is an invidious position to place people in. I know that there are trials of supporting people in self-isolation in England, and I've again made the case and pressed the case for those trials to be rapidly concluded, and for a full UK programme to be provided. There isn't the budgetary space for individual nations to do that themselves—it needs to be a consistent, UK-wide programme, in my view. And if the UK Government did choose to do that, then I would welcome that as a positive step forward in enabling people practically to comply with the advice they are being given by our test, trace, protect service.

In terms of pub opening, I've answered, in response to Andrew R.T. Davies, some of the challenges of displacing activity and actually having a line of sight on how and where people are drinking, as opposed to driving that into people's homes. We've seen recent evidence of alcohol sales going up significantly during national lockdown, and we need to recognise, in each of the choices we make, there is a balance of harm. But we do think that this measure will allow us to maintain licensed premises so that businesses don't lose their opportunity to turn a business, people don't lose their jobs and we'll have a line of sight on behaviour. And we'll then want to be able to understand how people are mixing, rather than not wanting to tell us that they've been seeing other people in contravention of the rules—there's a real risk we'll drive this underground.

The other point, though, and it's important to make, is it's not just a proportionate response of the law that requires us to consider this, but it allows us to take further measures. So, if we don't see the improvement in the way that both those businesses behave, but equally the way that customers go in and behave, then we do have opportunity to take further steps and measures. And this is not so dissimilar from measures that were taken in Aberdeen in Scotland and measures that we understand are being contemplated, if not implemented, across England as well. Every judgment is a balance, but I believe these are the right set of measures to introduce now. I look forward to the public responding positively to them. 

Thank you, Minister, for your statement today and for all the actions that are being taken to try and safeguard the well-being of the residents of Rhondda Cynon Taf. As you can imagine, questions are coming in to me thick and fast already from residents of the Cynon Valley, so I welcome this opportunity to ask you some of those directly. 

Firstly, with regard to booked holidays, I know that the residents of RCT will not now be able to travel for these purposes, and that, in the case of the Caerphilly residents previously, Welsh Government wrote to the main tour operators setting out the expectation that they would refund customers or allow them to amend their booking to a later date. Will you commit to resending this letter with reference to the residents of Rhondda Cynon Taf and sharing this correspondence with representatives of the area so that we can, in turn, share it with our constituents, who may require such proof in order to press their case, if necessary? In addition, what support can you offer to those who have booked holidays in the UK and to local tour operators, such as Edwards Coaches, whose businesses may be badly affected?

Secondly, with regard to those who have previously been shielding, I'm aware that the previous Caerphilly guidelines have not recommended any changes for this specific group over and above the advice or the regulations that have been imposed on other residents. Yet, in recent days, Cwm Taf Morgannwg University Health Board and Councillor Andrew Morgan, leader of Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council, have—quite sensibly, in my opinion—advised people in RCT who have previously been shielding to work from home wherever possible, due to the rise in the coronavirus cases here. Can you confirm, then, the evidence that you will offer to previously shielded people in this regard? 

And thirdly and finally, I'd like to ask about support for local businesses. These new restrictions are, of course, very, very different from the national lockdown that we saw in the spring. How can Welsh Government encourage local residents to continue to shop locally safely and to support home-grown local businesses, while also safeguarding their own health?  

Thank you for the series of questions from the Member. In terms of your first point, about holidays, I recognise that Hefin David has been making the case in particular yesterday, but in correspondence and conversation with me as well, about his residents in the Caerphilly constituency, and I'm happy to take up the Member's suggestion to write again to parts of the holiday industry. We've been in contact with them, their insurers, to again confirm the restrictions that are now in place and the fact that residents from RCT will not be able to go on holiday—it will be a breach of the law to do so—and to chase a response on this issue and indeed the outstanding response on Caerphilly. And I'm happy to take up the Member's suggestion to share that correspondence with constituency and regional Members so that you can see the letter we have written and any response we then receive. 

I think there's a broader point about the travel industry and reputational damage that they'll need to consider. There's a point not just about those foreign holiday operators but within the UK as well. This isn't just about having sympathy for people who have found their ability to go on holiday restricted. If people did breach the law and nevertheless go on holiday, they are at a higher risk of having coronavirus because community transmission is taking place, and I do not think that holiday operators would welcome a position where someone has broken the law to go on holiday and potentially introduced coronavirus to part of their holiday operation. There is a point of self-interest here for holiday operators to do the right thing, and that must mean making sure that refunds are available and people are not put in an invidious position and, equally, that other holidaymakers don't feel at risk from people that they're sitting next to in terms of transport. 

There is a point about how we support people, and there's a really difficult point here, because, in the English restrictions that have been introduced locally, we haven't seen an additional flow of resource going in to support businesses. Now, we've seen that in Leicester and other areas too, and, again, I think this would benefit from a joined-up UK response, where we can sit down and understand the budgetary response that is available, and whether there is a, potentially, UK-wide scheme for businesses where we're placing new restrictions upon them. Our budgetary position in Wales is not that we're in a position where we have lots of spare cash to be able to put into businesses to support them when we're needing to take public health measures to protect the health of the wider public. That's why myself and the First Minister have been very clear that we want to see the COBRA process restart in earnest, to have regular conversations, and, hopefully, shared decisions, but, equally, within our own individual responsibilities, a better way of communicating, in every part of Wales and the UK, the choices that are being made and what underpins them. 

In terms of shielding, the whole country is being advised to work from home wherever possible, and that is something that certainly applies to people who are being shielded, not just people who live in Rhondda Cynon Taf and Caerphilly. The advice from our chief medical officer—we had a deliberate discussion about the shielded population, and, whilst the advice at present isn't to reintroduce the full shielding arrangements, we are considering direct contact with people who were previously shielded to remind them of the position that they were in, the current position, and to remind them in particular that they should follow these rules to the letter to make sure they're minimising their risk of exposure, because they're at much greater risk of harm. 

And when it comes to staying local, we both have a local travel restriction, but it is also an opportunity for people to support their local businesses. And that's both about how we comply with the rules ourselves as customers, but also how businesses themselves make it clear that they are providing as safe an environment as possible for their customers to continue coming back, whether online or in person. And I hope that people do take seriously the message that exists here, not just from an enforcement point of view, but actually look after our staff and look after the public that they serve. 

Thank you for the statement. I just want to add to some of the points that have already been made and ask for assurances on a number of different fronts. Firstly, on communication, could you explain how Government, working with the local authority, will increase the level of communication locally in Rhondda Cynon Taf, in this instance, and in other areas affected, because it's clear that the messages are still getting lost? Even six months into the pandemic, there are some basic messages still being lost. 

Another element of communication that I'd be keen to see is on informing people when exactly they should be seeking a test, because people are erring on the side of caution. And that's a good thing; we want people who perhaps need a test to make sure that they get one. But, if there's a better way of communicating, in order to remove those people who perhaps have some symptoms but they're not really COVID symptoms, to not get involved in the wait for testing and so on, that would be very, very useful at this time. I've found it myself difficult sometimes to pin down the definition of new, persistent coughs and so on. So, communication on that would be good. 

Enforcement—I'd like assurances on enforcement. How do you make sure that those pubs where people are still allowed to congregate are properly policed, that local authorities have the powers and the resources to police them in order to make sure that people are having to stick the rules?

Limiting contact is another thing that I'd like assurances on. When do you make the call that keeping a pub open until 11.00 p.m. isn't acceptable, that you have to take away more opportunities for people to mix? Because it's been shown, hasn't it, that those places can be risky. And, of course, if you do have to close places down, we need those assurances about assistance for those businesses.

And, finally, on testing, can we have more assurances on how we will know that we need—the capacity that we must have within our communities from lighthouse labs and the UK-run systems? Because Independent SAGE said months ago:

'There is an urgent need to plan for migration of testing back from the...Lighthouse laboratories into a more integrated..."normalisation" of such increased capacity across our existing PHE/NHS laboratories'.

You as a Government did the opposite. I feel we're paying the price for that now. We need assurances that we will have the tests that we need over the winter period.

Thank you. Perhaps I'll deal with that final point first. You'll recall that we had real difficulty and challenges at the start of the pandemic in significantly increasing our own testing resources. We had equipment on order that was held up and not able to be delivered into Wales. That was because of restrictions provided in other countries. And we then also had some challenges when equipment arrived—one piece in particular that took several weeks to settle down and function properly. So, it's why there is some difficulty both in increasing our own testing resources and the people who are needed to make sure those tests are processed properly, together with some concern over the difficulties that lighthouse labs currently face. Because whilst Matt Hancock has indicated it'll be a number of weeks—up to around three weeks, he hopes—before lighthouse labs are back on an even keel with much more capacity, able to meet the demand that they face, we know it's possible for other events to intervene, and that's why we're already switching our capacity.

We're not waiting three weeks and saying, 'We just need to tough it out'; we're actually increasing our own capacity available to the public through NHS Wales laboratories. And that's partly the reason why we've increased our own capacity to make sure that there is an alternative to publicly available testing. It's also, though, that we increased that capacity ready for the autumn and winter period, when we expect we'll have more people coming into our hospitals, more people seeking healthcare, and we'll need to have testing facilities available, and it will allow us, as we are doing, to deploy testing in hotspot areas. So, we're doing exactly what we thought we would need to do, but it's earlier and in a different way because of the challenges that the UK programme is facing.

It's not a simple matter of blind faith; it's actually a matter of the practical reality of where resources are. It's a UK programme and, actually, a few months ago, the unified criticism of me was that we weren't taking part when other nations were taking part. We resolved the data issues and the lighthouse lab programme actually worked pretty well for the last few months. We now need to deal with the challenge that we all recognise is taking place and the anxiety that is causing constituents.

On enforcement, I'd like to praise environmental health officers in every local authority, regardless of the leadership of that council. Environmental health officers have been a huge part of what we are doing and I really do want to pay tribute to them. They are all going above and beyond the normal call of duty to check on premises, to enforce and to keep the public safe. We're not looking to introduce COVID marshals as the UK Government suggested they were going to do. We're looking to see more recruitment of people to assist environmental health officers through proper recruitment processes and local authorities are already looking at how they're going to do that. My colleague Julie James, the Minister for Housing and Local Government, is working with local authorities and being clear that we want to see them co-operate with each other. Because, actually, given the sustained increase in cases in Caerphilly, they have needed support from others, and it's about how councils work together, crucially to make sure that 22 authorities aren't competing against each other for the same limited resource.

I do, though, want to pay tribute, not just to environmental health officers, but the leaderships of the particular local authorities that we've been working with. I can say that, at the start of this, with the first incident in Ynys Môn, the Plaid Cymru leader there was very responsible and I thought did a very good job in leading her council through that first significant incident. And we're seeing that now with Philippa Marsden in Caerphilly and Andrew Morgan in Rhondda Cynon Taf. And that relationship, where we're talking regularly with them, is really important. They're getting unified communication as well, so that people on the ground, with their local responsibilities in local government, are discharging those with the support of and in a consistent way with Welsh Government. And that is also about the simplicity of our message.

We've actually had a pretty consistent message here in Wales. We have challenges with different messages and the way the media communicate those, and different messages in particular across our border, where lots of people get their media from. So, we have been republishing messages, through not just social media, but using the Welsh media too, and Ministers have had a very high profile in not just Welsh media, but across UK stations as well. We'll continue to do so to try to deal with people's anxiety about not just the message, but about how to get a test and when to get a test.

The symptoms are a high temperature, a new continuous cough or a loss of a sense of taste or smell. That's when you should be going to get a test, and if you do need a test, don't go to a healthcare facility. Don't go to a hospital, don't visit your GP, don't go to a pharmacy—that's exactly where we don't want you to be. Please, if you can, book your test from home, or if you need to go to a walk-in centre, make sure that you're not breaching social distancing rules in place with other members of the public.

Minister, can I first of all put on record, I think, the importance of the work that RCT council have been doing in terms of the monitoring and enforcement in supermarkets and in pubs and so on? It's been important. But I think, also, there's a realisation that exists in the community I live in and represent that cases have been increasing and that further action was going to need to be taken.

A number of questions have been answered, but I've had, through social media already, hundreds of postings for information and so on, and that is understandable in the way in which communication has been developing in our constituencies. Just two points there. One point that has been raised is in respect of the elderly who, obviously, we have great concerns about, and who will not be able to meet up in their support bubbles in the same way. I'm just wondering what consideration has been given to the sort of support and advice that needs to be given to the elderly in that situation. We know also, with schools going back—and we want our schools to stay open—that there are many grandparents who take their grandchildren to school, and there may be issues there in terms of whether that can continue or not. That would be helpful if you could clarify that particular question.

And then one final point. You've referred to community transmission. Of course, there's a lot of posting on social media saying, 'Well, we have clusters here and there, why don't we just close down the areas where those clusters exist?' I think it would be helpful, Minister, if you could explain and clarify today what the issue is with community transmission, why it is not realistic or feasible in controlling this current spread to be just closing down small areas or confined areas, and why it is important that we have to look at this at a broader area in terms of the speed and expansion of transmission.

And then one very final point. The University of South Wales have been doing a lot of work in developing technology for rapid testing. I'm wondering if you have any information or an update as to how that is progressing, because if it does progress, it obviously offers tremendous opportunities.

Thank you for the questions. On the final point first, the University of South Wales's potential development is still in trials. We understand that it looks positive. It's one of a number of potential point-of-care tests where you can test people rapidly. We already have one such device that ourselves and Scotland in particular have been interested in, and that should again provide a test in under 20 minutes. So, crucially, that test should also allow us to deal with some of the strains of the flu as well, which is particularly useful when it comes to flu season even if people don't have COVID. If they have flu, it is an infectious disease and we should remember that in an average flu season, 8,000 to 10,000 people across the UK lose their lives. So, there are real threats, and if you need to have a NHS flu jab, you are in a vulnerable group when it comes to harm from COVID too. So, we'll continue, as we get more information, to make that available, not just to the constituency Member, but to Members across the Chamber as well.

On your point about enforcement, again, the point about our environmental health officers and the work they've done and the way they've worked together across boundaries—there are some partnerships across different local authorities—their commitment is really significant and has made a really big difference in the join-up between the responsibilities of local authorities and the health service as well. There has been a genuine team approach between local government and our health services. So, that enforcement activity—the checking—will continue, but the starting point is businesses themselves following the rules and customers following the rules too.

The rules come into place from 6 o'clock tomorrow, but as we saw in Caerphilly, behaviour starts to change as soon as the announcement is made, and we're looking for people to behave in this way to protect themselves, their families and their community. That's the point and the purpose of this: to try to save lives. The Caerphilly guidance that exists is a useful touch point for people in RCT because we've answered a range of questions. There will be very similar questions as the ones asked in Caerphilly. It's Caerphilly plus the issues about restricting the hours of sales within licensed premises.

On schools and individuals with caring responsibilities, even in the national lockdown, it was a reasonable excuse to visit another person in their home if you have caring responsibilities with and for them. That still is the case now. But we're not seeing the extended household arrangements surviving from tomorrow in RCT because of the evidence about community transmission and the challenges of people mixing indoors without social distancing.

And that comes back to the final point that I need to deal with, your point about community transmission or clusters. If you consider the issues we've seen, for example, in a range of areas, whether it's the current issue in General Dynamics, where there's a workforce, many of whom are in Merthyr Tydfil, but workers who travel from further afield, or the previous issue we saw—seeing the Member for Blaenau Gwent in the room—in Zorba, where there was a large workforce, but we understood who they were and where they lived. The employer and the trade unions—where they were there—were really co-operative and encouraged people to get tested and tested quickly, so that when we saw lots of tests being undertaken very quickly, it meant that the case rates in some of those authority areas rose up significantly, but we understood what that was. That was effectively a self-contained cluster of people who all had predictable links with each other.

What we find in RCT is that about half of the cases are in those areas we can predict and understand how the virus is transmitted. We're seeing about half the cases, though, in areas where we don't understand where the index case is and how they link with each other, and that's when we see community transmission in the normal contact of people with people who are following the rules as opposed to the individual events, for example, in the club that went to the Doncaster races all on a bus in the day, going in and out of pubs and then coming back as well. That individual event is also going alongside wider community spread and that's the real danger point that could see us back to where we were in March this year, just before going into national lockdown, and that is what we're desperate to avoid and why we appeal to people to follow the rules, not just in RCT and Caerphilly, but the rules that apply in the rest of the country too.

Finally, Huw Irranca-Davies.

Diolch, Llywydd. Can I just begin by joining the Minister and others who have praised the work of front-line officers on the ground in different departments in RCT, under the leadership of Andrew Morgan, but also other agencies? They've put sterling work in not just now in recent hours and days, but actually weeks and months as well. But also his call on the UK Government to extend support to not only employees, importantly, but also businesses that are affected by localised constraints and localised lockdowns as well, otherwise the economic and financial pressures are there to actually bend the rules, go back; we don't want that to happen, but there's a reality on the ground. I also have had several questions coming in to me live since the announcement has been made, and I wonder if I can run these past the Minister.

First of all, in areas like Gilfach Goch and Llanharan and others, which are on the border of RCT but within the Ogmore constituency, where we haven't had pubs and clubs shut down, where we don't have the data yet that is showing that there are intense localised outbreaks of the virus there, people are asking whether there can be a more hyperlocalised approach to this as we go on in the next few days and weeks or does it have to be on a county borough area. Are there reasons why a county borough wide approach is the preferred approach? Is it simplicity for enforcement, for monitoring? I don't know, but people there are saying, 'Well, why are we being penalised when we don't have these outbreaks, when our pubs and clubs are behaving well?' and so on.

Secondly, bordering areas just outside, such as Evanstown and Gilfach Goch, which are literally on each other's sides of the street, with family and neighbours who commute across for child minding purposes and have extended households between two county boroughs on opposing sides of a street, what advice should we be giving to those in Evanstown who are not affected directly by these constraints, but will be when they realise that tomorrow morning their child minding or their grandparents or whatever, well, they cannot actually go and visit? What advice should we be giving?

And finally, I've already had an approach from many people, but one is from a couple who had actually reorganised their wedding from the height of the initial period of the lockdown earlier on in the year from May to October to a different venue in Cowbridge. They've booked it, they've got a limited number of guests coming, they live in Llanharan, and they're now asking does this mean that their wedding cannot go ahead for a second time. I suspect the news is not good, but in which case could the Welsh Government, in light of what Vikki was just saying, extend that letter that could go out not just to holidaymakers and tourism operators, but also to wedding venues and others to make sure that they show the greatest sympathy possible for people who have been affected by this?

Thank you for the series of questions. I go back to there's some consistency in what Members have said and also contrary points. So, thinking about what Leanne Wood said about, 'Why aren't we closing all the pubs now?', there's a counterpoint that pubs that are being responsible, who don't want to see any restrictions, and where we are is a measure of restriction for all licensed premises because of the evidence we have. We've chosen not to close all premises because we recognise that some are behaving responsibly, and as I say, we don't want to displace all of that activity into people's homes where there are even greater risks of transmission.

So, as I say, it's a balance, and the challenge about taking hyperlocal choices is how many different messages people can have communicated and still follow because many people say, 'Give us simple rules and simple guidance for us to follow and to understand.' It lies behind some of the frustrations members of the public have about different messages between different Governments. We are trying to do the right thing for Wales and to take national choices and to understand local choices, and in any area where you have a border around the choices you're making, there's going to be transference across and a need to understand. Now, those rough edges in choices we make are inevitable, but there isn't a perfect choice, as you will know, being a former Minister; you never get to make a perfect choice in Government. But within this, we have to make choices that are, on balance, going to keep people safe, and avoid as much harm as possible.

So, on that challenge about the border, there's a difference between visiting for social purposes and if people have genuine caring responsibilities. For some people, they're genuine caring responsibilities and for others, they're not so. Now, that's a significant interruption in how people live their lives, and I recognise that, but if we don't do this, then we're likely to see coronavirus spread further, not just within RCT, but across that pretty porous border in the way people live their normal lives. We all recognise the harm that took place ahead of and then during the first lockdown.

And then, on your point about the impact of lockdown, I guess there's a challenge here for the UK Treasury to think about the impact of local lockdowns, where you end lots of activity and you end up almost certainly seeing a reduction in the tax take and economic activity, and at the same time, the cost you need to put in to sustain that activity, and what will happen if we don't support businesses and the challenges of those businesses going under if they're not supported, and equally, the much wider challenges if people aren't supported to isolate as they should do. If people go out, it makes more local lockdowns and a national lockdown—not just in Wales, but across UK—more likely, with a much higher financial price to pay, as well as a price we'll all see being paid in terms of people's health and well-being.

On your point around wedding venues, I think the point is well made. I'm afraid the news isn't good for your constituents, but I will take on board the point about how we within the Government write to those venues and those operators, because I recognise it's a significant life event, there'll be people who are really anxious about it, and this does have meaning. So, I'll certainly take that up and take on board your comments. 

Thank you, Minister.