1. What assessment has the Welsh Government made of COVID-19 rates in South Wales East? OQ57110

Thank you. The current rates of COVID-19 in South Wales East are a cause for concern, with a very high number of cases. We continue to monitor the situation closely and to take all appropriate measures. Continued public support is vital to the success of our efforts.

Thank you for that, Minister.

COVID-19 rates, as you've been saying, in the south-east have been worryingly high recently. One of the likely reasons for this is the number of inaccurate results given to residents by a laboratory in Wolverhampton. An estimated 4,000 Welsh residents were affected, and the majority were in Gwent and Cwm Taf. Minister, as you'll know, this was serious, because if people were told that they had tested negative but actually had the virus, they would have been going about their lives, infecting other people without realising it. You said in a statement, Minister, on 15 October, that you would work with the UK Health Security Agency and NHS test and trace on any actions their investigations into the incident would highlight. But, since then, there hasn't been a further update to Members. So, I'd ask you if the Welsh Government can provide more detail about how many of the affected residents were in fact living in either Gwent or the south-east Valleys, what the latest assessment is of how this colossal mix-up has impacted the modelling and the projections of COVID rates in Wales. And finally, Minister, when will Public Health Wales's assessment of the latest situation be completed and published, please?

Diolch yn fawr, Delyth. You are absolutely right that we believe that the incident at the Immensa lab and the fact that there were so many tests that came from Wales—. We estimate that about 4,000 people in Wales were wrongly told that their tests were negative. If you extrapolate from that and look at it—imagine, 4,000 people wandering around thinking that they're clear when, in fact, they could be infecting other people—clearly that was bound to have an impact on our rates. And that is, we believe, one of the reasons for these incredibly high rates in parts of east Wales.

We are still waiting for that report from the UK Government, but are still requesting that of them because we do need to know what went wrong so that we can learn and make sure it doesn't happen again. And, of course, we do have our own lab here in Wales, and we need to keep an eye on that. Of course, the majority of Welsh tests go to that lab in Newport, but at times when there are extremely high levels of requests for tests, then some of those get diverted, and that's exactly what happened in relation to the Immensa lab near Wolverhampton. So, all of those people who were affected, those 4,000 cases, have been contacted if they were within a specific window—prior to that they would have been out of the period in which they were required to isolate—and they have been requested to re-test. So, we think that the situation has now been contained, but obviously the consequences we are continuing to pay for.

Minister, analysis of the age profile of people with coronavirus shows that 39 per cent of cases are aged under 19 and that 27 per cent are aged between 10 and 19. A constituent has contacted me who has a family member attending Crickhowell High School and also Monmouth Comprehensive School. The requirement to wear face masks has been retained in both classrooms and corridors at Crickhowell high, but are not required at Monmouth comprehensive. My constituent makes the point that COVID cases are nearly double in Monmouth comprehensive than they are at Crickhowell. Have you, Minister, undertaken any studies of the difference in COVID rates between different schools in neighbouring localities, and what consideration have you given to making the wearing of face masks compulsory in secondary schools? Thank you.

Well, thanks very much for that question. You are absolutely right that the rates amongst younger people are particularly high. The rates in Gwent, for example, in the 10-19 age group, are around 2,300 per 100,000. I mean, you think about the levels there, and that was in the week ending 17 October. So, clearly, we were quite pleased to see half term coming, because hopefully that's given us a degree of relief. The education Minister is obviously keeping a very close eye on the situation within our schools. That is why, in the last 21-day review, we tightened up the guidance and provided a new schools toolkit. What we're trying to do is to be proportionate. And, of course, there are examples where perhaps some schools should be tightening up that are not, but you do have to remember that the Children's Commissioner for Wales, for example, was very clear that, actually, wearing a mask is not necessarily beneficial to the children. So, we've got to get the balance right here. So, if the incidences are low, and there are some schools where the incidences are low, then perhaps it would be slightly over the top to ask them to wear face masks. But, that toolkit should give people a bit more of a sense of when they should be requesting that pupils wear those face coverings.