I will ask the Minister for Health and Social Services to move the regulations in their entirety. Eluned Morgan.

Motion NDM7776 Lesley Griffiths

To propose that the Senedd, in accordance with Standing Order 27.5:

1. Approves The Health Protection (Coronavirus Restrictions) (No. 5) (Wales) (Amendment) (No. 14) Regulations 2021 laid in the Table Office on 16 July 2021.

Motion NDM7775 Lesley Griffiths

To propose that the Senedd, in accordance with Standing Order 27.5:

1. Approves The Health Protection (Coronavirus Restrictions) (No. 5) (Wales) (Amendment) (No. 15) Regulations 2021 laid in the Table Office on 6 August 2021.

Motion NDM7777 Lesley Griffiths

To propose that the Senedd, in accordance with Standing Order 27.5:

1. Approves The Health Protection (Coronavirus Restrictions) (No. 5) (Wales) (Amendment) (No. 16) Regulations 2021 laid in the Table Office on 27 August 2021.

Motions moved.

Thank you very much, Llywydd. I move the motions in front of us.

The Health Protection (Coronavirus Restrictions) (No.5) (Wales) Regulations 2020 set out the legislative framework for four warning levels that are outlined in the coronavirus control plan. As noted in the regulations, a review must be undertaken every three weeks. In the review on 14 July, it was noted that cases of the coronavirus were increasing in the community, primarily as a result of the Delta variant, but the high vaccination rates meant that the number of those presenting at hospital continue to be low because they could continue to implement the changes to alert level 1 on 17 July.

In July we also published an updated version of the coronavirus control plan to outline our plan to move to alert level 0, a new level. On alert level 0 there are no legal restrictions on the number of people who can meet each other, including in private homes, in public areas, and in events. Those businesses that remained closed, including nightclubs, could reopen. As part of the review on 5 August, it was noted that the general rates of COVID-19 had decreased across Wales, and the percentage of people who received a positive test had started to decrease consistently. The pressure on the health service as a result of COVID-19 continued to be low, and this meant that Wales could move to alert level 0 from midnight on 7 August. The requirement for people to isolate, if they came into close contact with the virus, was abolished for those who had been vaccinated fully, and also for children under 18 years of age, as part of that review. Also, the requirement for people to wear face coverings was abolished in hospitality settings.

In the review on 26 August, it was noted that the transmission rates of COVID-19 had increased across Wales during that period, and the percentage of people who received a positive test had also increased. But, the evidence still suggests that the link between the cases of people presenting in hospitals and deaths had been weakened by the vaccination programme. Some minor changes to the regulations came into force on Saturday 28 August, including exempting people attending wedding ceremonies or civil partnerships from the legal requirement to wear a face covering, ensuring consistency for wedding receptions that had already been exempted since the review period of 5 August. Thank you.

Thank you to the Minister for your statement this afternoon. We will be supporting these regulations today, as these regulations are in regard to easing restrictions.

Unfortunately, the latest three-weekly review has once again failed to address the social care sector. To quote a Denbighshire care home owner, 'Older people are often forgotten and pushed to the bottom of the priority list'. The First Minister's written statement on the review of Welsh COVID regulations only mentions the care sector in passing, to say that care home residents and staff would begin getting booster jabs this week. The care sector is responsible for looking after the most vulnerable people in our society. We shut down whole swathes of our economy to protect those very people, those most vulnerable to COVID. Now that we have effective vaccines and can once again open up to return to some form of normal life, it's not an excuse to forget about those in care once again.

We are vaccinating teenagers and rolling out third doses, yet we still have over 9 per cent of staff in care homes yet to have their second dose, and this cannot be down to vaccine hesitancy or anti-vax disinformation. One thousand two hundred and sixty three members of staff working in our care homes have had a first dose but not a second, yet a single dose can offer protection against catching and spreading the virus, but not as much as two doses or even three. It's little wonder that care home providers are deeply concerned about their liability and why they are desperately calling for Welsh Government to extend the indemnity enjoyed by the NHS to the care sector. During the last Senedd, Welsh Government introduced legislation to protect the NHS from liability claims. They need to ensure the care sector enjoys similar protections, particularly in light of the pandemic and chronic staff shortages. I hope the Minister will address these points during the course of the next three weeks. Thank you very much.

We in Plaid Cymru don't oppose these regulations either. They have moved Wales towards a zero alert level, bringing more normality into people's lives across the country, which is to be welcomed, of course. But, as we know, we can't take anything for granted, as cases increase once again, and there are questions that need to be answered by the Government about the current situation and how the situation could develop in the future. And it is a cause for concern for everyone to hear about the increasing pressure on intensive care units in the Hywel Dda area, for example. So, please let me take this opportunity to ask you about the current situation.

The effort to vaccinate as many people as possible continues to be vital. Could I ask you about the COVID passes in order to understand a little about the logic behind your decision to move towards introducing these passes in some situations? Could you explain to the Senedd is the main aim in introducing these passes to push vaccination levels higher, and do you think that your plan will reach that objective?

Since the introduction of the pass before the summer for international travel, Plaid Cymru and others have raised the issue of having access to the system through the medium of Welsh. So, could I ask you when that Welsh-medium service will be available to have a COVID pass? We also hear about cases from the the National Union of Students Wales about some students failing to have a COVID pass because the system can't deal with the fact that a student has had one vaccine in Wales and one in England. And so, when will that problem be resolved in a satisfactory way?

And finally, could I ask you about the ozone machines and the use of those within schools? When I asked the First Minister about the use of those machines last week, I was led to understand that a rapid review was being undertaken by the technical advice cell to look at those concerns that had been raised about the safety of those machines. So, could I ask you to provide an update? Has a review been undertaken, what were the recommendations, and what will you be doing following that report? Many experts believe that it would be much better to focus our resources on other means of preventing the spread of the virus, and it would be better to have more resources for monitoring air quality and ways of moving air around buildings. Thank you very much.

The Minister to reply to the debate.

Diolch yn fawr—thank you very much. I'm very aware of the situation. Of course, today we are focused on the regulations, but I am happy to just say a few words on the social care situation. I can tell you that we are acutely aware of the stresses and the strains that the social care sector is undergoing at the moment. That is why we are determined to make sure that we pay a huge amount of attention to this. We've already committed £48 million in the past two weeks to make sure that our local government colleagues are able to shore up the systems within their powers. I have weekly meetings, along with the Minister who's responsible for care in the Welsh Government, Julie Morgan, with the Welsh Local Government Association—representatives from there—the NHS, and our own officials, to see what else we can do to shore up the situation over this winter. We have been waiting for months—no, for years—for the Tory Government to come up with proposals on how we're going to fix care in this country. They did come up with some suggestions in recent weeks in relation to how they suggest that we should raise funding. We don't agree with that, but at least we know now what the future could look like. We're not certain, but that does give us an opportunity to think more long term about how we're going to fix the situation in relation to social care. We could have gone a lot further and a lot quicker had we had information before now. So, I can assure you that when it comes to social care, we are doing everything in our power to shore up the situation that we understand is very, very difficult at the moment.

When it comes to liability for care homes, that is something that I know the UK Government is looking at, and that we will continue to consider. When it comes to the jabs, the booster doses—that has already started now in care homes across Wales, and of course there are very high numbers of people who work in those care homes who have already been vaccinated.

May I thank Siân from Plaid Cymru for accepting the regulations? We know that there is huge pressure on our hospitals at the moment, and, of course, there is an additional effort now for us to go about ensuring that the vaccine is extended in terms of the booster, and vaccinating children between 12 and 16 years of age. In terms of COVID passes, we are eager, if we can, to keep the situation open over the winter. We know that there will be additional pressure, that COVID thrives indoors, and we know that during the winter, people are far more likely to spend time indoors. That's sure to spread the virus, and that's why what we think is best to do is to put measures in place before problems arise. That's what our experts have been telling us throughout, that we have to act early on in terms of preventing a situation from developing, and that's why we have introduced this particular scheme to ensure there are passes used if people go to settings such as nightclubs and so on. And so, of course, we also hope that that will help to increase the number of young people who will receive the vaccine.

In terms of the system through the medium of Welsh, we're dependent, to a large extent, on the situation in England. They have many of the techniques and levers in terms of how the apps work. We know, for example, that the situation, if you download the app that states that you can receive the COVID pass, at the moment, it says England. At the end of the month, it'll say Wales as well. So, we're always waiting for them to move forward. They have to make the changes on our behalf.

In terms of the ozone machines, we have asked for that review by the technical advisory cell. We haven't received the recommendations yet, but we will be informing you once we have received those recommendations. But I'm sure that you'll be pleased to hear that there are carbon dioxide machines now being placed in our schools across Wales, and we hope that that will help to monitor the air quality and to ensure that we do get much more ventilation in our classrooms during the winter.

Thank you, Minister. Therefore, the first question or the proposal is to agree the motion under item 6. Does any Member object? I don't think anyone is objecting, so that motion is therefore agreed in accordance with Standing Order 12.36.

Motion agreed in accordance with Standing Order 12.36.

The next proposal is to agree the motion under item 7. Does any Member object? No, nobody objects. The motion is therefore agreed.

Motion agreed in accordance with Standing Order 12.36.

And the final proposal is to agree the motion under item 8. Does any Member object? No, therefore, the motion is also agreed.

Motion agreed in accordance with Standing Order 12.36.