3. Statement by the Minister for Health and Social Services: Update on Coronavirus

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 12:57 pm on 30 December 2020.

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Photo of Caroline Jones Caroline Jones UKIP 12:57, 30 December 2020

Thank you for your update, Minister. I too wish to thank those who work tirelessly, especially over the Christmas period. We have known about the new variant of SARS-CoV-2 for the past several months. During the intervening period, what assessment has been made of the severity of disease caused by the mutated virus? Is the ‎infection fatality rate any lower or, God forbid, higher? Reports from the new and emerging respiratory virus threats advisory group seem to report that the new variant can be spread more readily by children. What assessments have you made of the role schools have played in the increase of COVID-19 across Wales? The move into alert level 4 restrictions was driven, mainly, by falling numbers of beds available in our NHS. Minister, how does the bed situation compare with previous years? And finally, Minister, the sooner we get our population vaccinated, the better chance we have of weathering the economic storm caused by the response to the virus. So, can you provide an update on the roll-out of the AstraZeneca vaccine in Wales? What steps are you taking to increase the pace of mass vaccinations? When will Wales receive the first doses, and how many doses will we be receiving? Diolch yn fawr.