1. Will the First Minister provide an update on Welsh Government coronavirus restrictions in south-east Wales? OQ56667

I thank the Member, Llywydd, for that question. Restrictions in south-east Wales continue to reflect the state of the public health challenge provided by coronavirus. The delta variant is now the dominant form across south-east Wales. Prioritising the hard-won freedoms of recent months will be the task of the weeks ahead.

I've had a Facebook question from Rhian Jay, who raises the issue of the NHS vaccination app, and what she says is:

'Is there any idea of when the Welsh NHS vaccination app will launch please? I'm attending an event where I need proof of having had both vaccinations. Having raised it with the health board, they said that you can apply for a certificate in writing or by phone, and you can receive a certificate, but in England you can receive the vaccination through the app.'

Rhian says that she rang this morning requesting a certificate, but it's her feeling that it's archaic and slow compared to the process in England, and her question is when will we see the app in Wales. The Welsh Government said that they would be roughly four weeks behind England before it's launched, but that's about now. So, please can we have an update on that?

Thank you, Llywydd. Well, it is true that, for technical reasons largely connected to the reconfiguration of the English solution to meet Welsh requirements, it was not possible to launch the app in Wales at the same time as it was launched in NHS England. I don't agree that the solution that has been in place in Wales in the last four weeks is archaic. Over 10,000 people have received certificates through that way of doing things, and it's due to the very hard work of the team in the Swansea bay health board that that's been possible. Once the English system manages to do its job, and to make access for Welsh people available to it, I'm afraid, Llywydd it will not be available in Welsh. Despite repeated requests to the UK Government to respect the law here in Wales, they tell us they won't be able to do that for several more months, but, within the next few days, we do anticipate that it will be possible for Welsh citizens to use the same solution, albeit it not via the app but via a website portal. The journey thereafter will be identical to the app and Welsh people will be able to use it in real time in the way that the English system has been available in England since 17 May. 

First Minister, the latest figures for coronavirus in Wales reveal the stark contrast between case numbers in various parts of the country. Figures vary from 91.3 cases per 100,000 people in Conwy, 77.3 in Denbighshire and 73.7 in Flintshire to only 6.6 in Merthyr Tydfil and 7.2 in Blaenau Gwent. In view of these regional disparities, can you, First Minister, please clarify your Government's approach to local lockdowns, and is it still your policy to lift restrictions on an all-Wales basis?

Yes, Llywydd. It remains the policy of the Welsh Government that Welsh solutions that apply in all parts of Wales is the preferable way of dealing with the current state of the virus. The Member is correct, however, to point to those regional disparities. It's now very clear that the north of Wales has been particularly exposed to the very large circulation of the virus in the north-west of England. Nevertheless, while we continue to learn more about the way in which the delta variant is likely to spread and its impact on hospitalisations, we don't see the need currently to have a different level of restriction in any part of Wales.

First Minister, the British Red Cross has found that loneliness is one of the most significant impacts of COVID-19 restrictions. Worryingly, their research also found that 37 per cent of people in Wales wouldn't be confident in knowing where to go for mental health and emotional support. Could I ask what your Government will do to address this, to ensure that health boards have the capacity and the skills and the resources to meet the mental health and loneliness needs of their populations, and that everyone has access to advice and information? And finally, could I ask if you will commit to increasing the roll-out of social prescribing link workers? They can provide tailored support to people who are chronically lonely, to help them rebuild their confidence and independence. As we open society up, these people will really need our support.

Llywydd, Delyth Jewell is right that loneliness is regularly reported by populations across the United Kingdom as one of the impacts of coronavirus, not simply in the Red Cross survey but in the fortnightly surveys that we participate in as a Welsh Government. And that isn't simply connected to mental health, important as that is; it can simply be that people feel that those normal social interactions that they would be able to rely on at any other time have been much more difficult for them. Health boards are one of the ways in which we can respond to that, but we have relied a great deal on the third sector to provide those basic levels of connection with people, opportunities for people to have conversations with another human being, to link people sometimes to wider volunteer efforts in localities where people who have found this experience so difficult at that social level can be found new and different ways in which they can still have that level of human contact. And social prescribing, as the Member says, is certainly an important part of the way in which future primary care services for people with those sorts of low-level, as they're sometimes called, mental health and well-being needs can be met in the community, by facilitating access to that wider range of possibilities that already exist in the community, but where sometimes an introduction via a social prescription can break down the barriers that people can feel between their own needs and ways in which those could be met in the community. And a greater emphasis on social prescribing will certainly be part of the Welsh Government's response to the coronavirus impact in the months ahead.