I thank the Welsh Conservatives for bringing forward this debate, and for acknowledging that my amendment would have added to the debate. As I've said previously, lockdowns were a necessary evil at the start of this pandemic whilst we built up capacity to deal with the outbreak. However, we have had seven months to build up that capacity, and it is getting harder and harder to justify the damages to business, the economy and the health of our constituents that result from such measures. And although I acknowledge that many businesses have been helped during the previous lockdown, there were many grey areas where many businesses fell between the cracks, and we could soon be entering the territory where the cure is worse than the disease. How many businesses have to close, how many people have to lose their jobs, before we realise that we are doing more harm than good? We need assurance now that no business will be left to stand alone.

I am not one of those that say we shouldn't take any action—far from it—and to let this disease run its course. We definitely should be taking measures to combat COVID-19, but we now have proof that an immune response doesn't last long with a SARS-CoV-2 virus. We're already seeing people in America catch the disease for a second time, and, in a report out yesterday, it seems that the second infection can be even more severe. So, we can't rely on natural immunity and we have no idea when a vaccine will be available. It could be another one or two years before we have a vaccine and can get it to everyone in Wales, and until then we have to learn to try and live with the disease, and that means us all wearing masks in public, keeping 2 metres apart, regularly washing our hands for a minimum of 20 seconds. And what it doesn't mean is locking everyone down. We have to keep on top of outbreaks, but that means containing the infected, not locking away the healthy.

So, when a COVID case is identified, everyone who has been in contact with that person should be tested, regardless of symptoms, and everyone should be placed in strict quarantine until it's clear that they are no longer contagious. Country-wide or even county-wide lockdowns are not always the answer and neither is closing businesses. We have to have targeted, hyperlocal measures—a surgical approach, as opposed to the scorched earth one we appear to be set on.

For example, in my region, we have three counties locked down, effectively the entire region of over 0.5 million people locked down because of 600 cases. We restrict the liberties of 0.5 million people, shutting businesses, causing people to lose their livelihoods, because 0.1 per cent of the people in that region caught COVID-19, the majority of whom caught the disease because they didn't always obey social distancing—that's not always the case, but it is in a lot of the cases—and, as a result of the selfishness of some people, businesses in my region are suffering.

I've had a pet-grooming business contact me in the last couple of days because restrictions have massively impacted their business. They may be forced to go out of business altogether because there's no support available to them. This business is far from unique. Businesses have complied with social distancing regulations, they have implemented COVID hygiene measures, but yet they're still suffering because of the actions of a small minority of individuals.

So, this disease is here to stay, and I'm afraid we have to find a way of learning to live with it, otherwise we could end up doing irreparable damage to our economy and our society. And I appreciate it's a balancing act, and a very difficult one at that, and nobody knows all the answers. Diolch yn fawr, Llywydd.