Thank you, Llywydd. I move the motions before us to approve these sets of regulations before us today. I'll address each of the regulations in turn, starting with the Health Protection (Coronavirus Restrictions) (No. 5) (Wales) Regulations 2020.

On 14 December, the Government published our updated coronavirus control plan. I was grateful to Members for their contributions to the debate held in relation to the control plan on the next day. These regulations give effect to the framework of alert levels that it contains. The plan sets out four alert levels, which are aligned to the level of risk, and outline the measures needed at each level to control the spread of the virus and to protect people's health. This plan and regulations give people and businesses more clarity about how we move through the alert levels, and should help all of us to plan as we move through this new year. We've drawn on the expertise of the UK Scientific Advisory Group on Emergencies, SAGE, and our own technical advisory group to identify interventions that work and what we've learned from the pandemic. Of course, we should all reflect on the fact that we're still learning throughout this pandemic, even after the last 10 months.

Our technical advisory group here in Wales has made it very clear that a national approach to restrictions is much more likely to be understood by the wider public and, crucially, to be effective. But if there is clear evidence of a sustained variation between parts of Wales, the regulations allow for the alert levels to be applied regionally.

The second set of regulations considered today are an amendment to those regulations, the Health Protection (Coronavirus Restrictions) (No. 5) (Wales) (Amendment) Regulations 2020. Members will be aware that, on 19 December, new and worrying information about the new and highly infectious Kent variant strain of COVID was discussed by the First Minister, together with the First Ministers of Scotland and Northern Ireland and Michael Gove for the UK Government. In response here in Wales we took immediate action to introduce the alert level 4 restrictions, the highest of our level of restrictions, that night. These restrictions were originally scheduled to come into force over the Christmas period. This meant that non-essential retail, close-contact services, gyms, leisure centres, hospitality and accommodation were closed, and the stay-at-home restrictions came into effect.

Now, I recognise that these national measures were the subject of significant criticism from some quarters. Sadly, a brief period of time has reinforced why our national approach was the right approach, especially so for north Wales, where we introduced protection at the right time, or the position we now see across the north of our country would undoubtedly have been significantly worse. In addition, we made further changes to the Christmas arrangements, which allowed two households to come together to form a Christmas bubble, and they applied to Christmas Day only.

A further set of amendment regulations was made on 22 December—the Health Protection (Coronavirus Restrictions) (No. 5) (Wales) (Amendment) (No. 2) Regulations 2020. This largely technical amendment sought to ensure that selling alcohol after 10 p.m. remains an offence.

Finally, the Welsh Government has made further changes to the Health Protection (Coronavirus) (International Travel) (Wales) Regulations 2020. A new variant of COVID-19 has been detected in South Africa that is different to the UK variant of concern, the Kent variant, but may share similar properties in terms of higher transmissibility. That certainly appears to be the case. Since 24 December, all travellers arriving into Wales from South Africa are now required to isolate for 10 days and will only be able to leave isolation in very limited circumstances, and there are no sectoral exemptions. Although most visitors from South Africa arrive via England, further restrictions mean that passenger planes and ships directly from South Africa and accompanied freight are no longer able to land or dock at Welsh ports.

As I've set out earlier today, Wales is undertaking a large-scale vaccination process as quickly as possible. This is, however, a marathon effort of unprecedented scale. The situation remains very serious in every part of our country. I'm fully aware of the significant challenges that alert level 4 restrictions place on people and businesses across Wales. As the review of those restrictions last week identified, it is still far too soon to move to a lower alert level. We must remain in alert level 4 to protect our NHS and to save lives. I urge Members to support these regulations, which are essential if we are all to continue playing our part to keep Wales safe. Thank you, Llywydd.