2. Business Statement and Announcement

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 2:32 pm on 8 December 2020.

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Photo of Mark Isherwood Mark Isherwood Conservative 2:32, 8 December 2020

On 23 November, the Welsh Government announced a pilot programme for supporting visits to care homes in Wales. I call for a Welsh Government statement on provision for families to visit loved ones in care homes this Christmas. The Welsh Government statement said you were offering testing to care home visitors across a small number of care homes, intended to pave the way for a wider roll-out to more Welsh care homes starting on 14 December. Last week, the UK Government announced that care home residents in England will receive indoor visits from family and friends this Christmas if they test negative for COVID-19 unless there is an outbreak in the care home, with over 1 million rapid lateral flow tests sent to care homes as the first phase of an English national roll-out to enable visiting by Christmas. As a constituent then e-mailed, and I'll quote them, 'Testing of relatives in England and more and more people going into the care homes and holding their loved ones is beautiful, but what about Wales? Why are we always last in the queue? For God's sake, just roll it out and let the Welsh residents be granted the same lifeline as England'. I call for a statement and update accordingly.