I wish to refer Members to my own declaration of interest form. Well, I certainly welcome the update that's now been provided to the technical advice, with the modelling appearing more positively to show that the peak of this omicron wave could now be behind us. And I think we all welcome that. With the total number of patients in hospital falling and the total number of admissions to hospitals decreasing for more than a week, now is the time that I think the Welsh Government needs to look more proactively to be looking to bring forward a long-term recovery road map. 

Sadly, Wales still remains an outlier when it comes to public health policy. Despite the detailed scientific evidence from South Africa, it does remain a central concern of many businesses that Welsh Government Ministers, in their opinion, have overreacted to omicron, and this has caused significant pain to families and much anguish to our businesses. The currently proposed timeline means that our indoor hospitality businesses will have another two weeks of restrictions, driving the Welsh pound across the border to England, and we all know of instances where this happened on new year's eve. 

The chief executive of the Welsh Beer and Pub Association has estimated that, on average, pubs have lost £16,000 each over the current period of restrictions. I went to the hairdressers the other day and there were two chairs out of action, with tape on, because of the 2m distancing. And believe me, the owner of the hairdressing salon was distraught when she told me how much an hour she was losing on those two chairs.

Given the research from University College London, submitted to SAGE in December, suggesting that people were twice as likely to catch COVID whilst out shopping, compared to being in a pub or a cinema, when no restrictions were in place, will the Welsh Government apologise now to the hospitality industry for getting it wrong with the rule of six restriction? And why on earth didn't the First Minister last week drop the 2m ruling so that businesses can actually maximise the income that they can achieve? A wave of cancellations continues to bite into the viability of our hospitality and tourism sectors. Now, whilst it is understandable that consumer behaviour has changed, the unprecedented strain felt by businesses is actually putting their own livelihoods, their own mental health and well-being, and employment opportunities for some, at a huge risk.

In conversations with many local businesses, it is apparent that clarity is still needed as to why they are required to provide evidence of a 50 per cent reduction in income, when we know that a far smaller reduction can be hugely detrimental. This is especially the case when one considers that the festive period can account to around 20 per cent of a business's annual turnover. There are also legitimate concerns from small self-catering accommodation owners about their eligibility, with the Welsh Government having stopped local authorities from having discretion to give any grants to self-catering businesses that accommodate 29 people or less, and I'm glad that the First Minister took that point I raised yesterday seriously and he's going to look at that. I would also ask whether you would look to make more money available for the businesses that have suffered due to their omicron response, particularly as the UK Government provided an additional £270 million in December, which was on top of the amount announced at the autumn budget.

How Wales begins to live with COVID-19 in the future now remains firmly on the public's mind, as Sir Keir Starmer and the Labour shadow Secretary for health have themselves outlined. The UK had to learn to live with COVID for the sake of our children. Professor John Watkins, a senior epidemiologist, has also said that Wales should look to align with England—