Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 1:50 pm on 6 October 2020.
Well, Llywydd, of course we do give consideration to that, and I had an opportunity to discuss that too yesterday with the First Minister of Scotland. Llywydd, we aren't discussing two sets of measures. The figures that I have seen, the most recent ones, which will probably be in the public domain later in the day, show that the local measures we have taken in parts of south Wales are having some success. So, I am working with officials to see whether it may be possible, provided that successes is sustained, to be able to lift some of the restrictions that we have placed on people in that part of Wales, provided the measures we are taking so far demonstrate an ability to do so. At the same time, we have to prepare, in the way that Adam Price has suggested, for the fact that things could get worse, not better, over this winter. There are a series of measures set out in the plan we published in August for health protection area restrictions. We have not used them all by any means, and if we did need to draw on them further, then we would have to do so—whether we would have to do so for a brief period of time I think is, in my view, slightly optimistic. What we are learning from the measures that we've already put place is that it does take a matter of weeks for those to be able to turn the tide of coronavirus around. But we work on both possibilities—both being able to lift restrictions where the data demonstrates it is safe to do so and on further measures we may have to take if that turns out not to be the case.