3. Statement by the First Minister: The Coronavirus Control Plan

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 3:38 pm on 14 July 2021.

Alert me about debates like this

Photo of Mark Drakeford Mark Drakeford Labour 3:38, 14 July 2021

To turn to the specific questions, well I agree entirely with what Rhun ap Iorwerth said, Llywydd, that a simplistic reliance on personal responsibility simply doesn't measure up to the way in which this crisis has been addressed here in Wales, and needs to be addressed in future. Of course, we do all have personal responsibility; that is certainly the case. But it's more than that, isn't it? Our responsibility is not just to ourselves; it is to other people. And much of the discussion in the Cabinet today, when we came to talking about measures that would still need to be in place at alert level 0, we were thinking about those people whose lives would be made more difficult and more anxious if they feel that places they might need to visit will not be as safe for them in the future as they have been hitherto. And that's why we think that we should go on wearing masks. As Rhun ap Iorwerth said, they do offer you protection as well, but just as importantly, they offer every one of us protection from those small acts that each individual can take that add up to something far more significant. 

As to how we will assess the impact of what we have done today, we'll continue to do it, Llywydd, in the way we have throughout. It's why we have a three-week gap between the measures that we will move to on Saturday of this week, and where we might go on 7 August, because that will give us an opportunity to assess the impact of moving to level 1 and the further opening of outdoor activity. And we will assess it against the number of people who fall ill, the extent to which that has an impact on the health service, the impact that that has on our economy, and we will have further modelling at each point, which tells us whether or not the level of circulation of virus in the community is peaking and diminishing, or is it simply pushing the peak further into the future. All of those things will be taken into account, and we will assess them at every step of the way. And it is perfectly possible, as the Plaid Cymru spokesperson has said, Llywydd, that you can get this wrong. Holland reopened on an England basis three weeks ago, and has just had to re-impose all those restrictions. The Prime Minister of Holland said, 'An error of judgment was made and today we are sorry for it.' So, it is possible to get this wrong. Israel, where there are even higher levels of vaccination, removed the need for people to wear masks, and have had to re-impose it two weeks after they took that set of actions. So, I'm not saying at all that even the careful steps we are taking today could not have unintended consequences, and it's why we will keep it so carefully under review. 

As to green list countries, the regime is unchanged. It's the regime we've had ever since green list countries came into being. And, as to nightclubs, then, the reopening of both nightclubs, and what I've learned to refer to as adult entertainment venues, are both now scheduled for 7 August, in line with the other level 0 lifting of restrictions.