4. Statement by the Minister for Health and Social Services: Update on Coronavirus (COVID-19)

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 4:08 pm on 22 September 2020.

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Photo of Darren Millar Darren Millar Conservative 4:08, 22 September 2020

Minister, thank you for your statement. It's been reported in the media that Dr Shankar of Public Health Wales has suggested that a number of local authorities are currently being monitored and could face local restrictions. Those local authorities include both Conwy and Denbighshire, both of which straddle my constituency. I've just been looking on the Public Health Wales website and it suggests that the incidence per 100,000 of positive cases in Conwy is just 16.8 and in Denbighshire 18.4. Now, that's obviously considerably below the 25 per 100,000 threshold that generally triggers action from the Welsh Government. Can you tell us on what basis those local authorities are under special monitoring arrangements and can you also explain why there appears to be two different sets of data that are available to the Welsh Government to make their judgment?

So, I understand the Welsh Local Government Association circulated some information over the past 24 hours that took a snapshot of the situation on 19 September that suggested that in Conwy, the rate was 26.4 per 100,000, which is obviously over the 25 per 100,000 threshold, and that Denbighshire's was 25.1. Yet, on the same day, Public Health Wales published figures of just 19.6 in Conwy and 16.7 in Denbighshire. Why is there such a significant discrepancy, and on what basis does the Welsh Government make the decisions in terms of further intervention and monitoring?