Part of 1. Questions to the Minister for Health and Social Services – in the Senedd at 1:53 pm on 20 January 2021.
Diolch. I must say, I'm disappointed that you seem to be brushing off my questions as being hypothetical ones. I want to see Welsh Government preparing for different eventualities, because if we've learnt something of the last year, it's that this pandemic can throw all sorts of curve balls at us and we need to be preparing for different outcomes.
Now, with case numbers thankfully falling, as well, many people are suffering, after almost a year of severe restrictions on their lives, will understandably want to know now the timescale for when they can get their lives back on track. Now, I'm not going to ask you today to give us that timescale, because, as I say, this pandemic has been a tale of surprise after surprise, so things can change even in a few weeks, but what I do want is an assurance that the Welsh Government does recognise the real hardships and health problems caused by the lockdowns themselves, and that the central focus of Government is to have an exit strategy from the cycle of lockdowns, and that there will be a recovery period that addresses the harms that have occurred, particularly, for example, to children and young people.