Part of 2. Questions to the Minister for Health and Social Services – in the Senedd at 2:49 pm on 3 November 2021.
Minister, while COVID-19 rates do remain high, the latest Public Health Wales data shows the latest seven-day average is actually falling to 546 cases per 100,000 people. The First Minister said in his recent press conference that the idea of further restrictions would follow if cases remained high. So, I'm curious to get an understanding of exactly how high these would need to be for further restrictions to follow in the forthcoming three-week review. Previously, the Welsh Government has set targets, if you like—local lockdowns at 50 cases per 100,000, and a national lockdown at 500 cases per 100,000. I appreciate that the UK-wide vaccine roll-out success has weakened the link between cases and hospitalisations and deaths, so that figure may not be cases but it may be hospitalisations, deaths, or something else entirely. But, if the Welsh Government is following the science, there must be a number at which these further restrictions would be enacted. So, is the Minister able to reveal that specific figure to us in the Chamber today at which further restrictions would be imposed?