The next statement is the statement by the Minister for Health and Social Services—an update on COVID-19. I call on the Minister to make her statement—Eluned Morgan.

Diolch yn fawr, Llywydd, for the opportunity to update Members on the current public health situation and the outcome of the latest review of the coronavirus regulations, which was carried out last week.

Wales is currently at alert level 0. We have passed the omicron peak of the Christmas and new year period, and we are growing increasingly confident that cases are declining. Infections in the community are going down. The number of people being admitted to hospital with COVID-19 is going down, and the number of people in critical care with COVID-19 recently is the lowest since July 2021. All of this, of course, is very positive news.

There are, of course, some reasons why we should continue to be cautious. It's clear that the pandemic is not yet over. COVID, unfortunately, is still very much with us. The case rate, which is based on positive PCR tests, is 326 cases per 100,000. This is still a very high rate, although not as high as the extraordinary levels that we saw at the peak of the omicron wave.

We are also keeping a close eye on cases of the sub-variant of omicron, called BA.2. It's an even more transmissible form of the virus than the one that we have become used to. There have been almost 250 cases detected in Wales to date. There has been some speculation that this is what's driving the current high case rate in Northern Ireland.

Llywydd, before I turn to the outcome of the 21-day review, I want to reflect a moment on the huge progress and the difference that our fantastic vaccination programme has made. As we approach the second anniversary of the first case of coronavirus being diagnosed in Wales, more than 6.8 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine have been delivered. More than nine out of 10 people have had one dose, 86 per cent have had two doses, and 67 per cent have had a booster dose. Vaccination has helped to change the course of this pandemic, weakening the link for so many of us between the virus, serious illness, hospitalisation and death. It has saved countless lives, and the speed of the roll-out of our booster programme undoubtedly helped us to weather the omicron storm.

I am pleased that our online rebooking system is now live and being phased in and integrated to health board COVID-19 vaccine delivery plans. This is another tool for health boards to provide additional contact methods for people to reschedule their appointment if the one they have been allocated is not convenient. Health boards will continue to have phone lines available for people who do not receive the rebooking text or are unable to access the online rebooking service. It is never too late to be vaccinated in Wales, and I would urge anyone who hasn't yet been vaccinated, or who hasn't finished their vaccine course, to come and get their jabs.

Whilst yet to be published officially by the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation, I have received JCVI advice regarding the vaccination of all five to 11-year-olds. I have agreed it, and we are working with health boards on implementing the offer. We await advice about whether the most vulnerable cohorts should have a further booster to protect them over the spring and summer months. We are working with health boards to plan for various scenarios to ensure we are agile and ready to implement any advice once I have considered this carefully.

Llywydd, I will turn now to the review. This was the first three-week review of all the protective measures we have at alert level 0. As the health situation is generally improving, the Cabinet has decided that we will stay at alert level 0. We can also begin to relax some of the protections we have in place. We will do this carefully and in a phased way.

From this Friday 18 February onwards, we will remove the requirement to show a COVID pass to enter large indoor and outdoor events, and to enter nightclubs, cinemas, theatres and concert halls. From 28 February onwards, we will remove the requirement for face coverings to be worn in some indoor public places. But they will continue to be a legal requirement in all retail settings, on public transport, and in health and care settings. If the public health situation continues to improve, we hope to be able to remove the requirement to wear face coverings entirely by the end of March.

We are working closely with schools to support them with planning a return to operating in line with the local decisions framework, which will happen immediately after half term. Face coverings will no longer be routinely required in classrooms after that date, but they should continue to be worn in communal areas in secondary schools. The rules in regard to self-isolation will remain in place in Wales. These are an important way of breaking the chain of transmission of the virus and preventing more people from becoming infected.

Following the next review, we intend to publish a transition plan for living with coronavirus. This will be a plan for the time when all legal restrictions made under the emergency health protection legislation are removed. We are now able to move forward and begin this cautious lifting of protections, while leaving others in place. For those people who have followed the rules and the measures to keep them and their loved ones safe, we thank them for that. We thank everyone for playing their part. We also thank, of course, our NHS and social care staff for continuing to work tirelessly through these difficult times.

COVID-19 hasn't gone away. As we continue to lift these restrictions, we will continue to monitor the public health situation, but the picture is improving. That gives us the hope that we can plan for a brighter future. Thank you.

Can I thank the Minister for her statement today, and also for the briefing earlier that was made available to health committee members? That was very much appreciated. Minister, I'm very pleased with some of the details in your statement. You talk about hospital rates coming down and those in critical care with COVID-19 being at the lowest levels since July 2021. You say this is very positive, and I agree with you entirely. This is a good positive position to be in. You go on to say that coronavirus unfortunately is still with us. But it'll always be with us; that's my understanding and that's what the health professionals tell us. Therefore, we have to learn to live alongside coronavirus. I'd be grateful if you could just outline if you agree with that position.

After 19 weeks, we have finally decided to scrap vaccination passports. Of course, I'm delighted with that position, because they were ineffective, they were costly to businesses, with no evidence that they actually worked in limiting the spread of coronavirus or increasing vaccination rates. It's my view that the decision of COVID passes should never have been put on the table in the very first place by the Welsh Labour Government. You said that businesses can still keep vaccination passports on a voluntary basis; have you had any indication from businesses that they want this, and if so, what kind of sectors have they come from? It would be useful to know that.

I've asked you about evidence on COVID passes on a number of occasions, and you've either said to me that you've relied on international evidence about vaccine passports in countries where vaccine take-up isn't very high—of course, in Wales, we're not in that position; we're in a much better position, where, as you said in your statement today, 86 per cent have received the second dose and 67 per cent have had the booster—or you've said that the evidence has already been published that demonstrates their effectiveness. But I would point you to your technical advisory cell yesterday. When they published information, they said that there remains a high degree of uncertainty around the effectiveness of the COVID pass in reducing infections, given the absence of robust evaluation of these interventions. You often say that this is one measure amongst many, but the cell does go on to say that while it has its potential to reduce infections with other measures, there remains limited peer-reviewed published evidence to demonstrate this. So, I would ask you again for that evidence. Has that evidence been collated in Wales, and when will that evidence be published? We need to evaluate the effectiveness of COVID passes, because there is potential here that they've caused great damage to the night-time economy, with very little public health benefit.

Minister, I'll ask you about the progress on the waiting list backlog. Of course, we know that we're in a position here in Wales where one in five of the Welsh population are still on a waiting list and one in four have been waiting over a year, and that compares to one in 19 in England and one in 13 in Scotland. Last week, NHS England, of course, published its plan to recover from the backlog, and I think in the health committee last week, Minister, you said that you'd be looking at that plan with interest. So, I'd be grateful for any early assessment that you've made from the plan in England. What aspects in that plan do you think are appropriate to carry over to your plan when you publish it in April?

Minister, in your statement today, you talk about the JCVI advice regarding the vaccine for all five to 11-year-olds, so perhaps you could give us some indication of what considerations you've been giving to what the roll-out of that vaccination plan will look like for this particular age group.

Overall, Minister, I welcome the further lifting of COVID restrictions announced last Friday. I do want to ask you about mandatory isolation, given how much this issue has been discussed. You and your colleagues have expressed amazement and disappointment at it coming to an end in England, and your Government says you'd like to see the evidence to support this move. So, my question would be: what evidence do you actually want to see in that regard? And secondly, the economy Minister, Vaughan Gething, has said that it could be scrapped before the end of next month here in Wales. So, what evidence has informed that statement, if, as you say, no evidence has been provided to justify the UK Government's decision in that regard? And thirdly, your Government colleagues have claimed that the UK Government did not give you a heads-up on their decision. Maybe that's, of course, because they wanted to make the announcement first in the House of Commons, rather than passing to journalists first. But I would ask you: how often do you give UK Government Ministers notice of your decisions here?

Thanks very much, Russell. Of course, we will have to learn to live with COVID. It's not going away, it's not going to disappear, and that's why, in the next three-week review, you'll be seeing us really developing a longer term strategy for how we intend to do that.

I'll jump, if you don't mind, to your last point, which is on mandatory isolation, because I think there's a link here. The difficulty is that the UK Government is acting as if it's all over, and the reality is, if you read the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies advice, it's actually quite sobering about what else could be coming around the corner. At the moment, we're doing well, but we don't know what may come next.

Let me give you some ideas about what may come next. They say that it's almost certain that there will a genetic variation of the virus that will render current vaccines ineffective. Those aren't my words, that's SAGE saying that. They say that, in terms of the milder disease with omicron—so, it's been fairly mild compared to what we've had before—we're unlikely to see that again; it's more likely to be more like delta. Again, this is not me saying this, these are scientists saying this. It's also telling us that we are likely to experience new waves of variants. So, let's just be aware that, of course, we're in a better place now, but dismantling the whole edifice is probably not a sensible idea. Obviously, we've got a lot of thinking to do, and we have got to understand that there is a very close relationship—indeed, a dependency, to an extent—with what happens in England, and so, what they decide will affect what we're able to decide here. So, it is important, when we're talking about learning to live with COVID, that we have to understand that it's not just about what's going on now, it's what may or may not be coming around the corner at us in future.

In relation to vaccine passports, we know that, under delta, for example, the vaccination helped to reduce transmission. So, if you were going to come into contact with someone, you were less likely to pass it on, and that does make a difference when you're going to an indoor enclosed space. There's also international evidence to suggest that it drove up the take-up of vaccines. So, that evidence does exist, and, of course, it is just one measure in a series of other measures. You keep on asking for evidence; where is your evidence to suggest that it caused great damage to the night-time economy? I'm not sure if there is much evidence to suggest that, actually, the COVID passes—[Interruption.] I understand, if you're closing a nightclub and they can't open, that's different. You weren't talking about that. You were talking about COVID passes, and it would be very useful to know where your evidence is for that, because some of the suggestions I had was that, actually, more people felt confident going out knowing that other people around them were vaccinated.

On waiting lists, we are in a really difficult situation, and it's not just here in Wales, but it's across the whole of the UK and, indeed, across the world. We had to take measures to protect the public. There are consequences to that and, of course, we're going to have a huge job of work to do to address that backlog. That's why we will be publishing our plan in April. We have an integrated medium-term plan process. We've got a system now where we're waiting for the health boards to submit their plans. We'll be assessing those plans and we'll be seeing if they marry up to the direction and the ambition that we've got as a Welsh Government. There are plenty of things that I think we would like to learn from other areas. I know you're very keen to see regional approaches. That's something that I'm also keen to see. But I think these are things that we need to consider.

In relation to vaccination of children, the JCVI has yet to publish its report, although there are lots of clues in The Guardian and other places where there seems to have been lots of leaks come out. It's a shame and it's perplexing to understand why that has not been published yet. But I have seen a copy of that advice and we will be commencing the roll-out of vaccinations for five to 11-year-olds. Of course, it's likely to have been a very difficult decision for the JCVI, because generally, children have a milder illness and fewer hospitalisations, but, of course, they have to balance that against the prospect of missing school. So, we have to consider very different issues when it comes to the vaccination of children as young as five years old, of course, so we'll be in a position where we will expect those children to be accompanied by an adult. There will be a need for informed consent, but there will be an opportunity for siblings, for example, to be brought at the same time. Most of this will be done—in fact, all of it will be done in health centres rather than in schools, so I hope that that is helpful to you.

May I thank the Minister for her statement? I am pleased to hear that confidence is increasing, that cases are reducing and that the number requiring hospital treatment is also reducing. I am content with the phased approach and the cautious timetable as we lift the few remaining measures still in place. There are few direct restrictions in terms of its effect on our daily lives.

In terms of COVID passes, I was discussing with the Member for South Wales East about one major cultural event that has decided that, 'No, COVID passes don't have to be used, but we're going to continue to do so, because it gives us confidence in arranging our events.' So, I do think that there are still people who want to put measures in place in order to allay people's fears, because I agree with the Minister's assessment that, although I am urging her to move forward as purposefully as possible in terms of the transition plan for moving to the next phase—. I agree with the assessment that the pandemic is not over, and am shocked that the UK Government is willing to claim that the pandemic is virtually over and that we need to remove all restrictions. And while I, as the Minister I'm sure is, eager to move to living with COVID, we shouldn't forget the pandemic or forget COVID. That's not what we mean by that.

In terms of the BA.2 sub-variant, I wonder whether there is any additional information on any patterns of transmission or where that sub-variant emerged from, so that scientists can focus on that and learn more about it. That is my first question. Secondly, vaccination of children from five to 11 years old: I would appreciate more details on the next steps. I am aware of calls from parents, from staff in education, from health professionals and care workers to push this option of vaccination forward as soon as possible, because of concern that the virus is spreading most among children and the impact that that has on family members who are unable to work and the impact that remains in terms of children's education, where they do lose large amounts of school time. And perhaps you could put that in the context of the decision to remove the requirement to wear face coverings in schools too, because there is concern, as I say, that we need to take all possible steps to try to prevent transmission within schools.

One final issue, as a third point. I have had further contact with the RNIB, following a written response that I received from the Minister on the last day of January, that was answering a question where I had asked about support for blind or partially sighted people in using tests. There are still concerns among that community who do have difficulty in taking these tests because of visual impairment. So, may I ask the Minister whether she is willing to have further discussion with the RNIB in terms of what can be done to assist those, particularly those who, for whatever reason, can't use digital platforms to seek assistance? Because the testing system is still an important part of our response to the pandemic, and it's important that it's a system that everyone is comfortable using.

Thank you very much, Rhun, and I'm pleased that you agree with the purposeful attitude that we have taken. And as you say, there are very few restrictions left in place. And I agree that some will continue to wish to use the COVID passes in some occasions. We're all eager for this pandemic to be over, but that isn't the way that COVID works. COVID has a mind of its own and behaves in its own way, and it's not us who will decide what the next chapter will be.

In terms of BA.2, there is a great deal of evidence in Denmark—that's where we're seeing a great deal of BA.2 prevalence. A great deal of research has been undertaken on that, to learn more about the sub-variant. One thing we do know is that it spreads far swifter than omicron. So, we are more likely to see that swift transmission of BA.2. And I know that many believe that that will become the most dominant variant that we see in our communities.

In terms of vaccinations for children between five and 11 years of age, we are already implementing a plan to ensure that this happens. We're not going to do that as a matter of urgency, as we did over the Christmas period. That's partly because the risk isn't as great to that cohort. And we're also waiting to hear from the JCVI to see whether there will be a need for a booster on top of the booster for older age groups in the spring. So, we certainly would want to consider which of those has to be prioritised. So, we just need to consider and weigh up amongst all of the other things that we need to consider, when it comes to making a decision on vaccination and what we need to do in that regard. So, I'm sure I'll receive a great deal more advice on that.

In terms of the RNIB, I'm sorry to hear that some people are still having difficulties to access tests—I'm more than happy to have a discussion on that. So, I can follow up on that later on.

Minister, thank you for your statement this afternoon on COVID-19, and I, like my colleagues here, welcome the easing of restrictions across Wales. Minister, as you know, COVID-19 put huge pressure on our A&E departments, and on Sunday evening there were approximately 17 ambulances queueing up outside Morriston Hospital, waiting for patients to be admitted and seen. In A&E and over the weekend, I've been advised by a front-line paramedic that residents in Brecon and Radnorshire are routinely waiting eight hours for a category 1 ambulance response. And over the weekend, a lady with chest pains waited over five hours for an ambulance to arrive, and there were no ambulances at all in my constituency. Minister, I have raised this on a number of occasions, we've debated it here a number of times, but I want to know what new measures have you put in, and the Welsh ambulance service put in, to try and get ambulance waiting times under control. Because people waiting eight hours plus is just simply not good enough, and I'm sure you'll agree with me on that. Diolch, Llywydd.

Thanks very much, James, and I am also very concerned about the situation in relation to ambulances, and that's why I have had a meeting with the chief executive of the ambulance service this morning, just to see what it is we can do to improve the situation. We have already recruited 127 additional people for the ambulance service—that's happened over the past few months. The other thing to remember, of course, is that we've got the armed services supporting us at the moment, so that's something else that is an additional support that we've seen. We've seen an additional number of people helping us with our 111 calls and 999 calls, and I'm pleased to say that that has helped to prevent the conveyance of around 11 to 15 per cent, so 11 to 15 per cent fewer people being taken to hospitals, because of that service.

We have had a particularly terrible situation in A&E in January, where we have had a very difficult handover period—lots of ambulances, as you suggest, waiting outside A&E departments. There has been a summit meeting this morning to assess the situation in relation to risk, and there's been a risk summit to assess actually what is the harm that is being caused here, because, obviously, that is something that is happening on all kinds of levels. So, we can't get people out of hospital because the care service is so fragile, and you'll be hearing more about what we intend to do in that space from my colleague next. We've obviously put substantial additional funding into the NHS. We're also looking at a roster review that follows on from the demand and capacity review that was undertaken earlier last year. So, it is a difficult situation, and, of course, there are still fairly high levels of sickness that you need to factor in as well.

So, all of these things are creating this perfect storm, but you, like me, want to know the answers rather than the problems. That's why we just keep on throwing and trying to come up with new ideas, and they have clearly helped the situation, but the demands are still enormously high, so we do have a six-point emergency and urgent care plan that we're working to as well. That's a longer term thing, but, obviously, there's an urgent situation we're trying to address at the moment.

I welcome the Welsh Government's stance on taking a sensible, evidence-led approach to relaxing COVID restrictions, because, as the Minister has already said, COVID has not gone away and it can still be really unpredictable. I am particularly grateful to be in Wales, as myself and many others have been, throughout the pandemic, where the self-isolation rules will remain in place. Does the Minister agree with me that it is far more sensible to relax the rules gradually than taking the rash approach of Boris Johnson's Government in Westminster, which seems to be led not by the science but by the polls? And can I also ask if the Welsh Government has a timetable for vaccinating five to 11-year-olds? I know this is something my constituents in Bridgend are very keen to get more information about. Diolch.

Thanks very much, Sarah. I'm pleased to say that we have tried, throughout this pandemic, to take that evidence-based approach, which was why we were slightly blindsided by the UK Government making an announcement that they clearly hadn't discussed with almost anyone in terms of stopping self-isolation. So, it is a shame that we get to that situation, and it's pretty obvious that it's a distraction technique from the very difficult situation that Johnson finds himself in at the moment politically.

Just in terms of the timetable for five to 11-year-olds, we're obviously waiting for that formal advice to come from the JCVI. I'm not quite sure what's holding it up. We know that it's available, and it's important that we are able to forge ahead with our plans. Obviously, we thought that this might be coming our way, so a huge amount of preparation work has already been undertaken, but we can't really press the button finally on it until we have that final JCVI publication that we're hoping to see imminently.

Joyce Watson took the Chair.