3. Statement by the Minister for Health and Social Services: Update on COVID-19

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 3:12 pm on 2 November 2021.

Alert me about debates like this

Photo of Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan Baroness Mair Eluned Morgan Labour 3:12, 2 November 2021

Diolch yn fawr, Huw. I will try to make sure that I pass on your thanks to Transport for Wales, and thank you for raising it directly with them. We're obviously continuing those conversations with Transport for Wales, but, clearly, it does make a difference when people do raise these issues with them.

You're absolutely right about clarity of message. It is difficult to maintain that clarity when things are changing all of the time, and people forget: 'Now, are we in that phase or that phase? What level are we at?'—all of those things. It does get quite complex, so we are very aware that we do need to try to keep those messages as simple as possible, which is why the overall message remains the same and has remained the same the whole time, which is, 'Keep your distance, wash your hands and try to remain outdoors'—all of the things that we know are better. So, those are the kinds of broad messages that we have to continue with.

When it comes to whether we will expand further, we've made it very clear that if the rates continue to go up, then we will have to introduce this in hospitality. Obviously, we're hoping that that won't happen, because the rates are starting to come down, but this has given us so many surprises. What I'm very reluctant to do is to go into the Christmas period with rates so high without any kind of forward plan. This is why we thought it was really important to give that kind of forward warning to hospitality, in case we're in a situation where we do have to introduce these passes quickly.

In terms of face masks with close contact, well, I think some of that should be in place already, Huw, so, clearly, we need to get some better messaging on close contact. I'll look at that again.