3. Will the First Minister make a statement on the difference between the figures provided by the Welsh Government and those provided in Public Health England's notifications of infectious diseases weekly reports in relation to COVID-19? OQ56121

Llywydd, the notifications of infectious diseases weekly reports published by Public Health England show only the numbers of suspected cases of coronavirus-19, as reported by clinicians. Public Health Wales publishes the total number of cases of COVID-19, as confirmed by laboratory tests.  

I thank the First Minister for that answer. However, First Minister, will you give us definitive figures that illustrate that this is a health crisis caused by an infectious disease like no other? In 2018, there were 32,000 deaths from typhoid fever; in 2019, 17,000 died from—[Inaudible.] And again, in 2018, cumulative deaths from communicable diseases amounted to 91,000. Why is it that we had no lockdowns in these years, yet 99.9 per cent of the population survived? Can you tell us why our health service is overwhelmed by an extra 50 people in intensive care—they were the figures given to us by Vaughan Gething last week—especially given that A&E admissions are down by 30 per cent? Is it not true that every year, during the winter months, for the last two decades, the health service has been in a crisis at this time? 

Did you hear that properly, First Minister? I think that we were struggling with the sound from you, David Rowlands. If you speak later on this afternoon, if you can just speak to the IT people regarding the quality of your sound. First Minister, did you get enough of the question to be able to answer?

I believe I did, Llywydd, although, as you said, it was a bit of a struggle to hear the beginning part. I have heard the Member previously somehow suggest that we are making a fuss about nothing when it comes to coronavirus, that there have been other diseases in other times that we have managed to survive. I honestly fail to understand what he is unable to grasp about this killer disease, which has caused the deaths of thousands of people here now in Wales, and where we are seeing at this point, in this wave of the virus, even more people dying, week by week.

It does absolutely nobody any favours at all to act as though this were not the public health crisis that it is. Over a third of beds in Welsh hospitals today are occupied by people who are so ill with coronavirus that they need the care of a hospital setting. We have almost as many people in critical care today because of coronavirus as at any point in the progress of this disease. Where David Rowlands is right is to say that the health service is trying to go on doing all of the other things that we need it to do. So, there are as many people in critical care beds for other reasons as there are for coronavirus.

But, in order for the health service to be able to get back to dealing, in the way we would all like to see, with all of the other health needs that there are here in Wales, every one of us has to do everything that we can to bear down on the current upswing in the virus here in Wales. Talking about coronavirus as though it were not the serious threat that it is simply undermines, rather than supports, the great national effort that others are making.

First Minister, figures are important. It is important that members of the public and Members of this Senedd and members of the Government have the opportunity to scrutinise the pace of the progress of the disease, and also, of course, the pace of the roll-out of the vaccination here in Wales, in terms of the programme. Many people in north Wales have been in touch with me in recent weeks because, of course, it does seem as though north Wales is lagging behind somewhat in terms of the pace of progress with the roll-out of the programme, albeit that the gap between north Wales and other parts of the country is beginning to close, which I'm pleased to have noted.

Do you accept that we do need to have further data published on a more regular basis, and that, on a daily basis, we should be publishing, by health board, the number of vaccination doses that have been delivered, the proportion of those delivered to each of the priority groups and, indeed, information on missed appointments, which I have been getting reports of at some of the vaccination centres, which of course is depriving other people who do need to get their vaccinations quickly in order to protect them against this dreadful disease?

Well, Llywydd, I hope that it helps if I just give a very brief set of examples of the data that is published all the time in Wales. Testing figures: published daily. Vaccine figures: published daily. TTP figures: published weekly. PPE figures: published weekly. Care home figures: published fortnightly. NHS activity: published fortnightly. I could go on. There is a very long list indeed of data that the Welsh Government publishes all the time, and that is because I agree with the basic point that the Member makes, which is of the importance of keeping people as informed as we can of the progress that the NHS is making.

In that spirit, I'm sure that the Member will welcome the fact that, in the figures that I have seen for today, the number of vaccinations carried out in the Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board area is now the highest of any part of Wales. So, over 16,000 vaccinations now completed in north Wales. There is no other part of Wales that has broken through the 16,000 barrier as yet. Now, over the weeks, I'm absolutely certain that there will be some days when other health boards do slightly more than north Wales, and there will be days when north Wales is back at the top of the list again. But no part of Wales is being left behind, no part of Wales is being denied its share of the vaccine, and as it happens, today, the part of Wales that has carried out the most vaccinations of all is the Betsi Cadwaladr University Health Board, and I know the Member will welcome that.