 Ie ddim yn dweud y dweud o'r cyfrifloedd Cymru yn ystod i'r dweud. Felly, wrth gwrs, fel y dyfodol, cyfnodd cyfrifloedd yr oeddwyr rhaglen o'r cyfrifloedd ar Weill, ac mae'n fyddon ni'n gael bod yn cael ei ddweud am y penderfynol gyda'r cyfrifloedd cyfrifloedd cyfrifloedd. Mae'n bwysig yma, mae'n dwi'n gweithio'r cyfrifloedd, a'i ddim yn cyfrifloedd yma. I want to talk to you today about the current public health situation and about the new variant strains of the virus, which we are monitoring closely. I'll also update you about our vaccination programme, which continues to go from strength to strength. I'll start with some positive news. The public health situation is continuing to improve across Wales as cases of coronavirus fall. Overall, the seven-day average rate has reduced to around 50 cases per 100,000 people, and all local authority areas in Wales are continuing to report fewer than 100 cases per 100,000 people. This is the lowest rate that we've seen across Wales since mid-September. The R number remains below one, and the positivity rate has fallen to 5.4%. The number of people with confirmed coronavirus cases in our hospitals continues to fall. The latest figure shows that overall number of people in hospital with coronavirus cases continues to fall. In yesterday, there were fewer than 450 people with confirmed coronavirus in hospitals across Wales. That's the lowest number since the 17th of October. As more people are vaccinated in Wales, we may be seeing a faster-than-anticipated fall in the number of people admitted to hospital. We have also seen a reduction in the number of people with coronavirus in our critical care units. This is really positive and suggests that we're over the worst of the second wave of the virus in Wales, thanks to everything that you have done over the last couple of months. By staying at home, you have kept yourself safe and you have helped to keep Wales safe, helping to control the spread of coronavirus. But this doesn't mean that we can afford to let our guard down and forget the basic steps which have helped to keep us safe throughout the pandemic, or to allow us to relax all the restrictions in one go. So we will be taking a careful and gradual approach towards lifting the restrictions, starting with our top priority of getting our children back into school. We'll also be following the very clear advice from our experts to monitor the changes we make for their impact on infection rates. This is particularly important as we emerge from this lockdown because the even more infectious Kent strain of the virus is now the most dominant form of the virus across Wales. This is one of the new mutated strains of the virus, which has emerged in the last few months in the UK and elsewhere around the world. We first became properly aware of the Kent strain in December, but it was probably driving some of the high infection rates we saw across Wales in late November. Now, as you'll have heard before, viruses mutate all the time and it is common to see new strains. But some of these new mutated strains of coronavirus could cause the pandemic to take a new turn, causing more problems as they become a source for more infections and potentially serious illness. In the case of the Kent strain, this is a more infectious form of the virus than the original version of the disease that we had become used to. A number of other new variants have emerged from overseas. To date, there are 24 cases of the South African variant in Wales. Detailed investigations have identified the majority of cases have links to international travel. Investigations are continuing into a handful of cases. These include targeted testing of close contacts to identify the source of infection and, of course, to help prevent any further spread. We're closely monitoring these because of the risk of severe disease and because they may limit the effectiveness of our current vaccines. The UK has introduced some tighter quarantine restrictions to people coming from countries with these new variants where they are most prevalent to try and prevent these strains from gaining a foothold across the UK. New variants can emerge at any time in any part of the world, but they are more likely to occur if we have high levels of community transmission. That helped to explain why we need to keep rates of infection under control and as low as possible, even as more people are vaccinated. We also want to get rates of the virus as low as possible before we begin significant relaxations because as soon as people start mixing again, we know that the virus will start to transmit again. That's why we can't forget the basic steps which help to keep all of us safe. To keep our distance, to wash our hands often, to wear a face covering in indoor public spaces, working from home wherever possible and keeping indoor places well ventilated. I want to finish with that brief update about vaccination. For the last few weeks, we have been working with a reduced supply of vaccine. We currently have the best vaccination rate in the UK and a greater proportion of people in Wales have had both doses of the vaccine than in any other UK country. Last weekend, we passed a significant milestone of a million vaccines administered within the first three months of the programme. We're now getting very close to delivering the millionth first dose, another significant milestone for this truly remarkable programme. All of this has been thanks to sheer hard work and determination of the many hundreds of people working both behind the scenes and in clinics across the country. My thanks and my pride go to everybody involved in this truly remarkable effort. I also want to thank almost a million people across Wales who have taken up the offer of vaccination. You are doing your bit for our significant and unfinished national effort. Every single vaccination really does count. Every dose is another step towards a brighter future. The vaccines are safe and effective and I urge everyone to take up the offer when it is their turn. I certainly will be doing just that. We are expecting a further increase in vaccination supplies in the coming days, so we can accelerate the delivery of vaccines to people in groups 5-9. We remain on course to meet our target of offering vaccination to everyone in this group by the middle of next month. Thank you very much. I'll now take questions from journalists and as usual, all answers will be broadcast live on our social media channels. The first question today is Felicity Evans from BBC Wales. Minister, thank you very much. Will NHS workers in Wales get a pay rise above the projected rate of inflation in the next financial year? We're waiting to see the outcome of the pay review body. We expect to publish the evidence that we've provided to that pay review body. If not today, then in the very near future. We certainly have not done what the UK Government has done and tried to set an artificial ceiling on the pay rise that should be provided. We think that our staff do deserve a pay rise. We're asking pay review bodies for evidence for our determination and advice on what that should be. We want to make sure that the UK Government are in a position to properly fund that pay rise. I understand why so many staff across our NHS will be feeling hurt and upset and a little angry at the evidence that the Department for Health and Social Care at the UK level have provided. As I say, when our evidence is published, you'll see we have not taken that approach. The schedule date for the Senate elections is getting closer and there is increasing concern among candidates that Covid restrictions at the moment prevent them from communicating effectively with voters via leafleting and door knocking and that sort of thing. Some of those restrictions are being eased in England from Monday. What's the plan here? Well, it's one of the things we're looking to consider as we go through this next review. So I think the First Minister may be in a position to confirm something next week, but we recognise that for the election to function we want all parties or candidates to have the ability to communicate with the electorate. And we'd like to be in a position to safely move from having paid leaflet delivery to the sort of things that people can do with volunteers. We may not be in the same position as England when it comes to canvassing though. We're going to need to think about the advice we get and also the reality of how the public would feel about having someone like me or another band of followers from different parties coming around and knocking their door wanting to talk to them. So we've got to think about what the public health advice says, but also there's some public expectation here. I hope that we can make some progress. If we continue to see a continued fall in the case rate, then that should mean we have other choices to make. And that will obviously affect how the election is run as well. Thank you, Fistie. I've now got James Coyne-Smith from ITB Wales. Thank you, Health Minister. You mentioned the pay review bodies. What is Welsh Government recommending to those pay review bodies would be a fair pay rise for NHS staff? We haven't set a percentage recommendation for pay review bodies. They regularly consider the evidence that's put before them. They then go through a process. They then make recommendations to us. And you recall, of course, James, that it wasn't that long ago that trade unions side were asking us to engage openly with pay review bodies, but then they wanted to know that our starting position would be that we would accept the recommendation of that pay review body without setting an artificial ceiling for that. So that's the approach that we've taken. So it is a different approach to the UK Government. And I look forward to receiving the recommendation of the pay review, but I all be it that it's entirely possible, James, that recommendation will be provided either during our pre-election period so I couldn't make a decision on it or after the election when there could be someone different in this place speaking to you and the country as the Health Minister. Thank you. On the handful of South African variant cases, are you saying essentially you don't know exactly where they all might be and how worried are you that that variant might be going through the communities in Wales undetected at the moment? No, what we're saying about the handful of cases, we're still investigating all the links around them. So we're still doing our contact tracing around those people. It's been highly effective to date the numbers of people. We are talking about a small handful of people when we have that confirmation we'll provide it. But as you know, we've taken an approach that is enhanced contact tracing and then testing of contacts to give us the assurance we have caught up with the spread of this particular variant. And that's been effective to date in helping to manage and to contain the South African variant and that's again a different approach to the early approach England took that had wider postcode testing but I think they too are looking at a more targeted approach. So I think people can have assurance that our contact tracing service and our public health agencies are doing the right thing to help keep all of us safe from the potential for new variants to emerge here in Wales. Thank you, James, and I've got Flakey Lynch from S4C. Finan dda, Wili Thog. Now with the on S4C, now with the on S4C understands that a number of senior Welsh Government officials working closely with the First Minister have tested positive for COVID-19. Can you confirm this? I believe the BBC reported on this yesterday that's been confirmed that there have been a couple of positive cases and so a number of people are following the advice given my test rate protect to isolate and work from home including the First Minister. I'm here because I wasn't in at that time and so that's why I can come here today but we have been trying to do the right thing all throughout this pandemic and the way we conduct ourselves here in the Welsh Government with space between people, hand sanitizer, frequent hand washing but this does show that despite all those control measures it is still possible for coronavirus to sneak through. That's why the control measures matter because without those we can be confident that there'd be more cases and it also helps to reinforce why there is a cautious approach out of lockdown. With your confirmation there that positive cases have been confirmed within the Welsh Government staff have the Welsh Government's COVID safety measures failed to protect the health of its employees in this case? No, as I've said, it's the recognition that even with all those measures in place it is still possible for coronavirus to get through because as you'll be aware one in three people we understand are asymptomatic, don't have symptoms so there can still be in a position where a spread can take place so that's part of the reason why we have regular testing. When people do then get symptoms it's why we reinforce please get a test and self isolate from the moment you have symptoms you'll be protecting other people and even then it's also why we have set such store by contact tracing and that's been really effective in this case too and people should take real heart in the fact that the contact tracing service here in Wales isn't just a public service so we haven't spent lots of money on private consultants that eye watering sums you see from England don't apply here in Wales but actually our service is more effective we reach more people than contact tracing services do in England and we reach them faster. This is a reminder that even with everyone doing the right thing with rates as they are it's possible we'll see more people who are doing that thing getting coronavirus. If fewer people do the right thing we'll see further instances of the virus spreading that's why the path out of lockdown is so important for all of us why if we all want to be able to emerge out of this together that's why we all still need to do the right thing and not act ahead of the restrictions that are being eased because we could compromise the further freedoms that we all want to enjoy. My family too and I'm sure yours too, Blakey. Thanks for your questions. I've now got Adam Hale from the Press Association. Thank you Minister. You're boss the first to start some stinging criticism yesterday of the UK Government of Boris Johnson's engagement or lack thereof with the Welsh Government during the pandemic. Nothing new there but with people's minds very much on the future about how we reopen and rebuild the country post Covid. In your opinion are governmental relations between Wales and England worse off or just over a year ago better off or has nothing changed? Well we've seen a fluctuation over the year so I recall that there were regular COBRA meetings through February and March those were initially chaired by the UK Health Secretary then the Prime Minister chaired a few of those and we went into a UK-wide lockdown then the Prime Minister was unwell and then there was another COBRA meeting that he chaired after returning then that hasn't returned since then. We haven't had a regular pattern of the Prime Minister engaged directly with the other national governments of the United Kingdom and we've been in a better position if that were to happen but what has improved though from a long period of radio silence effectively from the UK Government for a number of months now there have been regular meetings that Michael Gove has chaired and those have been useful but as we all know Michael Gove isn't the Prime Minister and so whenever there's a conversation with the UK Government there's a need to then wait to see if that really is going to be the position taken because UK Government ministers need to go back to their boss to confirm what they are and aren't doing so that's unhelpful in our relationships and it would be much better for all of us if you put the politics aside of how people do or don't want to vote which party they prefer it would just be much better for all of us if the Prime Minister did meet regularly with the first ministers of Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland and I don't think that's particularly controversial You said earlier this week in the health committee although you'd love to see music festivals, sports events with large crowds going ahead this summer the advice that you're receiving from experts is that those things are perhaps unlikely to go ahead at least in Wales can you expand on what you're being told with that why these things might not be possible even if transmission rates are tumbling, vaccination programmes going as well as it is at the moment and the data suggests a more positive picture Well we're bound to publish some more evidence I think we'll help to explain the position that we're in and the approach we're taking so our technical advisory group giving us scientific advice and public health advice that's led by the Chief Medical Officer Department and it's because the vaccinations are really helping us but a substantial amount of the fall in case rates has come from the lockdown measures themselves and the support that people in Wales have provided and again I want to say thank you to everyone who has supported the measures and restricted their contact because that's been the major factor in the reduction of case rates but as we exit and as we gradually ease those restrictions we're dealing with a much more infectious strain of the virus that's one of the things that is behind the caution the important caution we have about easing restrictions as we then forecast a future when you're forecasting about the middle or the end of the summer that's a real act of astrology because you can't properly predict on any sensible or reasonable scientific basis what the virus will be doing at that point in time and that's because we need to see what happens through each point of easement we need to see what happens with the behavioural response how we all choose to behave as each of those set of restrictions ease and what then happens with virus transmission so the caution is there because you're into you're into the sort of stuff that you might read in in your call about your star sign but I don't think that's the way people expect the government to behave in a once in a century pandemic that is yet to be finished so we also know that vaccination will help lots of us but that we'll still have a large number of people who won't be vaccinated say by the middle of June because we won't have vaccinated all of our adults under the age of 50 by then that then means there are a range of people who haven't been vaccinated who are susceptible to infection and actually one in four of our hospitalisations are actually from people under the age of 60 so you can see the potential for harm if we go out of lockdown too quickly if the message to the public is you can do what you like now then actually that mixing will mean the resurgence of the virus with real harm being caused so there's a balance to be struck here and I think the responsible evidence-led approach we're taking in Wales is exactly the right way to go about this and I think that's why the public are still so supportive of the general approach that we're taking here in Wales Thank you Adam, I've now got Will Hayward from Wales Online Thank you Health Minister Given you have said that stay home instructions are ending does that mean that people in Wales will be able to drive as far as they want to exercise or visit people at a social distance in 10 days time would someone in Newport be able to drive to Tenby or someone in Wrexham be able to drive to Snowdonia for example? Of course there's more than one Newport in Wales but look I understand the general point you're making Will and we said we may be able to stay at home we're considering what that then means we haven't made choices Will we're thinking about whether we should have a stay local period or whether there'll be travel permitted across the whole of Wales now that's a choice that the government needs to make we haven't concluded that but there are I think very easy to understand arguments why we would want to have a period of stay local before moving to wider travel and of course it's important to remember that at this point in time the restrictions in place in England mean that people shouldn't be travelling from England into Wales we know that the reality of essential travel for work or other purposes is one thing but actually there shouldn't be travel for leisure at this point in time and that's because as a result of rules in England if nothing else so you'll have to wait a few days longer before the First Minister is here to give you the update on the Welsh Government's decisions about the 21 day review that we have yet to complete Just by way of clarification given that you'll be opening some accommodation potentially at Easter would any stay local restrictions only be in place for three weeks and on the health service there didn't appear to be any extra funding in the budget on Wednesday to allow the health services to catch up with the backlog of elective surgeries when they're able to do more routine work is the Welsh Government planning to allocate additional money to the NHS in the coming years to make it possible to speed up the rate at which delayed treatments can be resolved and if so how long do you think this could take could it be years till we work through this backlog? So yes I do understand your first point about self-contained accommodation and whether that's going to be viable if we still have a stay local period as opposed to wider travel and those are active considerations for the Government but as I say we've yet to complete our determination on those and the First Minister will announce that in just a week's time on your point about the NHS recovery task that faces off it's a huge task and I said previously that I think it'll take a full centre term to get back on top of the backlog that's been created pointing that the budget didn't confirm extra sums of money for the National Health Service because we will need more resources not just to cope with the unfinished pandemic we're living through and it's a matter of fact that we're still going to be living with those additional challenges for our health service additional physical spacing between beds so less capacity the reality that the additional infection prevention and control measures including additional PPE requirements for our staff compared to a year and a half ago mean that you can't undertake as much activity so the throughput is less so actually the backlog will still continue to grow for some time now I don't think it's tenable for England never mind the rest of the UK to work on the basis that there isn't going to be extra funding for the National Health Service in every part of the UK to deal with the backlog it's disappointing that that wasn't addressed by the Chancellor in his budget but I do expect that we'll have to be addressed with in the autumn statement or otherwise here in Wales though we're sticking with our commitment to make sure that the health service does continue to have real terms growth but our ability to address the backlog will be affected if there aren't additional resources and as you know we'll have committed to publishing an NHS recovery plan before the end of this month to set out our approach here in Wales to addressing these really difficult issues not just for plan care but for mental health as well thank you Will Dan Wilson from LBC thank you Minister the Welsh Government said yesterday that it was considering allowing indoor care home visits to resume from next weekend it would be one designated person if that happens is there not an argument that perhaps it shouldn't just be restricted to one designated person that that could put a lot of pressure on that one person and that perhaps those who are have had a vaccine it should be entitled under obviously current restrictions to be allowed to see their loved ones well again we've indicated where we want to go that should allow people to plan and get ready if that is the decision that we end up confirming but the challenge is again this point about a step by step approach to easing and we do know that there are still going to be people in our care homes who are potentially susceptible to being infected and the harm that could do in that environment we think that both people who run and work in our care homes understand there's a need to have a cautious approach and I also despite the really heartbreaking stories of both residents and their loved ones outside of the care homes they live in there's an understanding of need and take a properly cautious approach as well so it's why we're thinking about the numbers of people who could visit but also about the fact that we'll be deploying lateral flow tests as well as an additional measure to make sure we can screen a potential asymptomatic cases as well so we'll deal with a renewed approach we hope to get that over the line and if we then see a continuing improvement in the public health situation and the measures we've introduced to help make visiting as safe as possible we can then consider what we might be able to do in the future. Thank you and as you've mentioned several times during this press conference there is an extreme amount of caution ahead of next week's review of the restrictions but given that the First Minister has hinted that the stay at home rule could be eased from next Friday how much of the decisions made over the next week has to take into account keeping the trust of the public you've suggested something could be eased many especially with the positive spin on the figures will be almost hoping that they are so how much of that decision making is based on you having to keep the trust of the public on their side basically well we have to be honest with the public we're honest about the figures about where they are and what that means we're honest about the uncertainty of the Kent strain of the virus that is dominant and the fact that there's even more infectious than the original version of coronavirus we're also honest about the things we are actively considering including the potential to move away from stay at home including the potential for self-contained accommodation in the future but we've always been clear that we have to look at the whole package of easements that are possible and to then understand what all those together will mean that's why the advice my scientific advice and the chief medical officer is so important and the overarching perspective in all of this is not just how we keep well safe but our first priority is to make sure the children and young people can return to face to face learning in our schools and FE colleges and that's what we're looking to achieve so each of the measures have to be balanced against that to see if we still have the room to do that to do it safely and of course we then want to see our children and young people return to school in full measure after the Easter break so we're balancing a range of things and I think it's all nice to tell the public those are the things we're considering to try to give people an indication of where we're going but not to do so for a really long term punt for the future because I think that most people will be deeply sceptical about that and I certainly take very seriously the requirement to maintain good faith with the public here in Wales that's been a key factor in our response to pandemic throughout Thank you Dan, I've now got Nicholas Thomas from the National Thank you Minister You've already spoken about possibility of an NHS pay rise but what are the work is being done now and for the future to encourage people to work in health and social care and to make those jobs attractive and rewarding? I think Wales has a very good story to tell on what we've done to make a career in the health service an attractive one, that's because we've worked with people who already work in the health service some specific points about recruitment and assistance for people on their education and trading journey and we've also listened to what the public have to say as well I don't know if you'll recall but at the start of this term we were in a very different position on GP recruitment we've made steady and sustained progress we're in a really good position now with GP trainees including the fill of our training places during the pandemic that's really positive for us that people want to stay in Wales who are already here but also people want to locate themselves into Wales for the next stage of their career and the potential to stay here on a much longer term basis as well on nurse recruitment, on nurse training the same for midwifery, the same for therapists we've got a very good record of significant growth and record investment in every year that I've been the Cabinet Minister for Health in reinforcing the need to replenish and renew our NHS workforce so I think we've done both we've made our jobs attractive to people across a range of areas and we put our money where our mouth is and we've invested in extra training places Thank you In December some health boards reported staff absence levels as high as 10% and there were reports too that this was having quite a serious impact on frontline services If another wave of infections were to happen what has been done to mitigate any new rises in NHS staff absences? Well this is one of the challenges that any Government will have to deal with not just before the time but at the time as well so the restrictions in the ability of the NHS by the full range of services that we're still living with now are partly because we didn't have the staff to deliver a full range of services but also of course of the cases that were coming in with coronavirus that required treatment in an NHS bed even today our critical care units are over 100% of their normal capacity so we're still dealing with a service that is very full of people with coronavirus even as we move into a better position If we did see another wave at any point whether the summer the autumn or the winter and what we do know is because of the success of our vaccination programme when making such progress at our second doses that means being able to expect more of our staff to be protected protected from harm that doesn't mean though that every single person will be because no vaccine is 100% effective so we still have to live with the fact that some people will still be susceptible to an infection even with our highly successful vaccination programme even with our highly effective vaccines so any minister in the future would need to make a choice alongside the service about any need to either restrict treatment or indeed to introduce new measures for infection prevention and control so there's a balance in these measures and whatever happens the next washroom will still be dealing with coronavirus for some time to come and need to balance how we open up more activity while still keeping all of us and our country safe Thank you Nicholas I've now got Mark Hutchings from FiveLife Thanks very much for those running non-essential retail or closed contact services and trying to plan and second guess ahead of next week's review how much notice will they be given about possible reopening could it be say within 10 days? Well at the first minister we'll be outlining the determination we reach and these are not straightforward choices Mark and I'm sure you and people watching understand we've got to balance the information that we're still getting in on the public health position the position of what's happening in terms of how people are moving and behaving as some of our children have gone back to school that's a factor in the potential spread and then the risk as I've said earlier in a whole package of easements to make sure that we still have headroom to ensure that our top priority is achieved for more of our children and young people to return to face to face learning and then to see what else we may be able to do so that's the approach we're taking the first minister will confirm what we're able to do and there are conversations taking place with representative bodies in those sectors to try to understand the notice they would ideally need and then the reality of our decision making time scales you know some people could start pretty much straight away whereas other people need to get stuck in have their staff put back from furlough so it'll take more time to get up and running and do that in the discussions we have but you'll hear first properly from the first minister next Friday I'm conscious this is a bloke asking another bloke but in recent weeks there's been a various report from women exercising, running or cycling for instance about feeling vulnerable or even being victims of physical or verbal assault as well as being calling it itself to show the need to return to group exercise or reopen gyms as soon as possible well the first thing to make clear is that whether it's verbal or physical abuse it's wholly unacceptable women whether individually or as the rules provide exercising with another person are entitled to do that and to do that without being in fear for their safety that's a very clear and simple message but we did change our rules partly because of the concerns some people had raised about whether they felt safe exercising on their own so you can exercise with one other person now and we asked people to maintain a social distance were we thinking again about what we might be able to do in the next period it would allow some social interaction with social distancing or the potential to do things outdoors those are real factors we're having to take account of we also though as you know have to balance the various different and competing elements of safety so people's safety when they're out exercising but also what it means to our general safety if more people are mixing whether outdoors or indoors and gyms of course is an indoor environment even with control measures there's a risk in their opening as well I don't think you could really sustain an argument that the real imperative to open gyms of safety when exercising outdoors because we've still got to balance the challenge that as good as the figures are and the directs they're moving about 50 cases in 100,000 still shows a real reservoir of coronavirus within our communities and that's why we've got to move cautiously but these are real challenges for us to consider and take on board and real factors that we do discuss across the government and with sectors as we plot our path out of lockdown and hopefully to a better and sustainable future Thank you Mark, I've got Rob Taylor from rexham.com Gathlein Minister, you've likely touched on this but we're aware of a range of businesses starting preparation work for reopening and beauticians and hairdressers taking appointments all in an expectation of a full reopening on March 15th for clarity is that fair expectation and if not does Welsh Government need to be clearer with the signal into sectors about what specific dates mean Well we're working with the sector about this and people who are taking appointments for the future know they're going at risk to do that You've heard the First Minister talk about the desire to have some services open but you also are aware that when we ease out of lockdown previously from the first wave we opened in a phase way close contact services so it was haircuts first and other services afterwards so we're having to consider how we address each of these points in turn and how we try to make sure that in the advice we get we understand the potential impact of every easement as a package and how that affects our top priority of returning children and young people to schools Thank you and the local health board explained on Tuesday about limitations of vaccine supply with about half of their supply being used for second doses only Is the expectation of increases of supply from next week bearing fruit and how substantial will that uplift be? Yes you'll see from today's figures that we did around about 30,000 doses yesterday so we're managing our stocks to make sure this is particularly the case for the Pfizer supply that that's making sure that we have got enough to deliver second doses what we don't want is to end up in a position where we're not able to deliver those second doses because we've actually been too optimistic in the way we deliver our first doses that's a point about managing carefully and efficiently the programme we've got The significant increases that we expect to have through this week you're starting to see in today's figures you expect to see those through the rest of this week we'll then need to make sure of course that in about 12 weeks time we've got enough supply to deliver the second doses for the ones we've delivered as first doses this week so there is still a logistical and a practical challenge in managing our stocks to make sure we're going as quickly as we can but bearing in mind we now have this challenge of first and second doses so I'm expecting that in the figures through this week and into next week you'll see that significant increase in supply being delivered into arms across the country and we then expect to see a levelling down but then actually a more steady state a supply which allows to keep going at a significant pace and meet our expected targets in both mid April and then for every adult in the country to have the opportunity to have their jab by the end of July Thank you Rob, I've now got Alan Evans from Planetly Online Thank you Health Minister The Royal College of Surgeons has said that the overall number of people waiting for treatment in Wales is the highest number on record more than half a million patients they called the figures staggering and devastating and I've called on Wales's seven health boards to start planning for the recovery of surgery in Wales and I know you touched on your answer with Will earlier on saying that the NHS budget didn't go far the budget didn't go far enough to allow for this but shouldn't the money given to other projects sort of be more prudently used and diverted towards this given the sort of urgency and the risk factor of losing lives will given these figures Well the figures are staggering you know we have got a significant backlog built up because of the choices we've had to make to keep the country safe and if we hadn't made those choices and if we have some NHS services being restricted in the reality is we would have seen more mortality and the figures are really upsetting in any event when you consider the amount of people have lost their lives to coronavirus but it could be much much more significant that does mean though that as we hopefully see the end of this pandemic we will then have this significant waiting times challenge and we will have big challenges around the mental health need of our staff and the wider public too so we are already thinking about how we are going to address that and as I said we will publish an NHS recovery plan before the end of this month that will set up the approach we take the operational plans that will then come a little later but that will allow us to give more detail on what we are able to do because as I say the position we see today position we are likely to see is that we are still going to see our ability to treat people to deliver on the sort of pace to eat into that backlog is going to be affected because we won't have seen the end of the pandemic we know we are still going to have additional PPE requirements for our staff so they can't operate the previous levels of output and that means the backlog even if other activity is returning is still going to increase for some time to come that's why I say this is likely to take a full centre term to get on top of it and there are a risk to Manusula of more harm and the potential for irreversible harm for some people who are waiting and that is a very difficult balance to strike but it's one we are going to have to do to make sure we have the best sort of recovery whilst at the same time recognising that our staff haven't had a break and we can't simply expect our staff to run faster at the end of this pandemic to catch up on that really enormous waiting list The Minister may have seen the documentary on the DVLA recently given the large number of cases and alleged inadequate protection in the work list at the DVLA which resulted in the employees suffering both physically and mentally what if any are the repercussions for the most senior managers what a duty of care for the employees and the community at large and will the Minister consider launching a public inquiry or police investigation into potential breaches of legislation and the potential that had to further infect the environment Well I'm not in a position to commence a public inquiry I'm also not in a position to require the police to investigate what's happened and of course the DVLA is a UK government department and so you'll recall that the First Minister has written several times to the responsible Minister with the concerns that we've had about workplace practices and the rules, the laws of Wales have been properly applied in the way that the DVLA was operating as an employer in particular about people's ability to work from home and the distance between people in the workplace and whether that has caused an additional risk and I know the trade union side are particularly unhappy about the way that the employer has operated we have had direct conversations between our contact tracing service public health Wales and the DVLA it doesn't appear there's been some improvement but I fully expect that there will be a need to have a retrospective look at what's happened both to learn lessons to make sure our staff are properly protected but also there's a point here about accountability for senior managers that is an issue for responsible UK ministers but I don't think it's something that they can contract out of and I don't think that this issue is resolved Thank you Alan, that concludes the questions for today, I look forward to talking to you at some point in the future Take care everybody and stay safe