Part of 1. Questions to the First Minister – in the Senedd at 1:50 pm on 13 July 2021.
Llywydd, I read very carefully what Professor Watkins had to say and I don't believe that he was arguing at all for a tearing up of all the protections that make a difference to our defences against coronavirus. He was saying that there comes a point where we have to be able to move beyond those protections and I agree with that, and I hope that when, tomorrow, I'm here again making a statement about the outcome of the current three-week review, there will be steps that we can take in that direction. What it will not be will be a wholesale abandonment of the collective actions that we have taken during the pandemic and that continue to keep Wales safe in the face of a third wave of coronavirus, which is already testing our health service—760 people fell ill with coronavirus in Wales yesterday alone; the largest number on a single day for many, many, many weeks. And the thought that that is a promising context in which to move rapidly away from the protections that are still there to keep us safe—I'm not persuaded that this is the moment for such an approach.