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Plaid Cymru Debate: Health inequalities
Thanks very much, Jenny, and you are absolutely right: I think that midwives are very key, and health visitors are key, particularly in those early years. I think that we have got to take every opportunity to make every contact count, to make sure—. We know…
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Plaid Cymru Debate: Health inequalities
Of course.
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Plaid Cymru Debate: Health inequalities
Diolch yn fawr, Llywydd. I'd like to begin my contribution by thanking Plaid Cymru for bringing forward this really important topic for debate today. Since my appointment, I have been absolutely clear that reducing health inequalities is one of my key…
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Plaid Cymru Debate: Health inequalities
Formally.
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, 6. & 7. The Health Protection (Coronavirus Restrictions) (No. 5) (Wales) (Amendment) (No. 22) Regulations 2021, The Health Protection (Coronavirus Restrictions) (No. 5) (Wales) (Amendment) (No. 23) Regulations 2021 and The Health Protection (Coronavirus Restrictions) (No. 5) (Wales) (Amendment) (No. 25) Regulations 2021
I do hope that if people did feel able to support these measures today, they would then have the opportunity to really look at the detail of what we've set out in that guidance. Thank you for that intervention, Huw. Certainly, what we've found is that we did…
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, 6. & 7. The Health Protection (Coronavirus Restrictions) (No. 5) (Wales) (Amendment) (No. 22) Regulations 2021, The Health Protection (Coronavirus Restrictions) (No. 5) (Wales) (Amendment) (No. 23) Regulations 2021 and The Health Protection (Coronavirus Restrictions) (No. 5) (Wales) (Amendment) (No. 25) Regulations 2021
Sure. Yes.
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, 6. & 7. The Health Protection (Coronavirus Restrictions) (No. 5) (Wales) (Amendment) (No. 22) Regulations 2021, The Health Protection (Coronavirus Restrictions) (No. 5) (Wales) (Amendment) (No. 23) Regulations 2021 and The Health Protection (Coronavirus Restrictions) (No. 5) (Wales) (Amendment) (No. 25) Regulations 2021
Rhun, I can give you that commitment, because we're hoping that we're getting to the peak and people, we hope, will be going back to work at some point very soon. So, if we're going to make any changes, then it makes sense to understand that we would have to…
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, 6. & 7. The Health Protection (Coronavirus Restrictions) (No. 5) (Wales) (Amendment) (No. 22) Regulations 2021, The Health Protection (Coronavirus Restrictions) (No. 5) (Wales) (Amendment) (No. 23) Regulations 2021 and The Health Protection (Coronavirus Restrictions) (No. 5) (Wales) (Amendment) (No. 25) Regulations 2021
I'd be happy to do so.
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, 6. & 7. The Health Protection (Coronavirus Restrictions) (No. 5) (Wales) (Amendment) (No. 22) Regulations 2021, The Health Protection (Coronavirus Restrictions) (No. 5) (Wales) (Amendment) (No. 23) Regulations 2021 and The Health Protection (Coronavirus Restrictions) (No. 5) (Wales) (Amendment) (No. 25) Regulations 2021
Diolch yn fawr. Thank you for that interesting debate. It's really important that we focus on the detail of some of the points that Members have set out today. On the issue of outdoor sports, I just want to make it clear that we have heard very clearly the…
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, 6. & 7. The Health Protection (Coronavirus Restrictions) (No. 5) (Wales) (Amendment) (No. 22) Regulations 2021, The Health Protection (Coronavirus Restrictions) (No. 5) (Wales) (Amendment) (No. 23) Regulations 2021 and The Health Protection (Coronavirus Restrictions) (No. 5) (Wales) (Amendment) (No. 25) Regulations 2021
Members will be aware that Wales moved to alert level 2 on Boxing Day. These changes were made through the No. 25 regulations before us today. These include a general requirement for businesses to put measures in place to ensure social distancing of 2m in all…
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, 6. & 7. The Health Protection (Coronavirus Restrictions) (No. 5) (Wales) (Amendment) (No. 22) Regulations 2021, The Health Protection (Coronavirus Restrictions) (No. 5) (Wales) (Amendment) (No. 23) Regulations 2021 and The Health Protection (Coronavirus Restrictions) (No. 5) (Wales) (Amendment) (No. 25) Regulations 2021
Llywydd, I move the motions before us. As the First Minister set out last week, omicron is now the dominant form of the virus in Wales and cases have been rising sharply. Cases are far higher now than they were at the peak of the previous waves. Omicron is…
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Statement by the Minister for Health and Social Services: Update on COVID-19
Thanks very much, Laura, and certainly, what we do know is that face covering in classrooms is not something we ideally want to see. We know that it's uncomfortable, we know that the children's commissioner, for example, is very unhappy about the need to do…
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Statement by the Minister for Health and Social Services: Update on COVID-19
Thanks very much, Alun. Obviously, we do have a kind of route-map out of this in the sense that we already have the levels that are in place, so there's no reason why we couldn't just move down the levels pretty quickly. We don't even need to move to level 1…
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Statement by the Minister for Health and Social Services: Update on COVID-19
Thank you very much, Heledd. You are correct: heroic work has been done by all kinds of people over the past few weeks—in terms of carers, those who work for health services, and particularly those unpaid carers who work on all of our behalf. The fact is, if…
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Statement by the Minister for Health and Social Services: Update on COVID-19
Thanks very much, Mark. I'll take up your point about the facilities for deaf people. I want to make sure that those are addressed, so I'll certainly take that away and see if our officials are able to give some clearer advice on that. In relation to the…
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Statement by the Minister for Health and Social Services: Update on COVID-19
Thanks very much, Rhianon. You're absolutely right that the pressure the NHS is under at the moment is truly extraordinary, which is why, of course, we're trying to direct people to get the right help at the right time in the right place. We're directing…
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Statement by the Minister for Health and Social Services: Update on COVID-19
Thank you very much, Mabon. I'm very aware of the situation and how difficult it is for those who are suffering dementia who don't understand exactly what is going on, and why they can't see their loved ones. But the fact is that our guidelines are clear. We…
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Statement by the Minister for Health and Social Services: Update on COVID-19
Thank you very much, Gareth. Obviously, we are really keen to make sure that we protect the most vulnerable, but we need to make sure also that they have the opportunity, for example, to meet their loved ones. We're trying to get the balance right between…
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Statement by the Minister for Health and Social Services: Update on COVID-19
Thanks very much, John. Of course, we've had countless requests to relax our regulations in relation to spectator sports, and we completely understand that. We're all very keen to see if it is possible to dismantle these before the six nations tournament…
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Statement by the Minister for Health and Social Services: Update on COVID-19
Thank you very much, Rhun, and I’m pleased to see that you’re better after your experience of COVID. There are so many people who’ve been in the same situation as you over the festive period, so I’m pleased to see you back and that you’re safe and well…
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Statement by the Minister for Health and Social Services: Update on COVID-19
Diolch yn fawr, Russell, and a happy new year to you, and it's good to see everybody back, although obviously we all hope to be together in the Chamber once we're out of this particular wave. We're all hoping that this year is going to be better than last…
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Statement by the Minister for Health and Social Services: Update on COVID-19
Without a follow-up PCR test, it is even more important for people to report the result of every lateral flow test they undertake and to self-isolate as soon as they test positive. If this isn't done, contact tracing will not be possible, so we will be unable…
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Statement by the Minister for Health and Social Services: Update on COVID-19
Diolch yn fawr, Dirprwy Lywydd, and thank you for this opportunity to update Members about what continues to be a very serious public health situation. Since the Senedd was recalled before Christmas, the situation in Wales has changed. The omicron wave has…
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The Health Protection (Coronavirus Restrictions) (No. 5) (Wales) (Amendment) (No. 21) Regulations 2021
Diolch yn fawr. Thank you, Huw, and thanks for the consideration of your committee. I just would appeal to you to consider the kind of urgency with which we had to introduce these. Of course we're always very anxious to do an equality impact assessment, and…
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The Health Protection (Coronavirus Restrictions) (No. 5) (Wales) (Amendment) (No. 21) Regulations 2021
Llywydd, let me be clear. These new measures have not been introduced lightly, but with this high level of uncertainty, it is right that we continue to be guarded. The new measures in the regulations will help us to safeguard Wales as we understand the new…
