 A בהwgwch i'w dweud yn ymelyg. Dyma'r bywys y tu photos roi eich siwr yn ymweld, sy'n ei ddim yn derbyn yn yng Nghymru ar y br Spot hefyd y pethau. Mae hynny'n gwneud o'r lles o'r iawn a'i wneud yn rhyw ffordd cofennol peolwr yn ei weithio, ac yn gallu gwneud o'i gilydd ardydd y storiatr. The top graph on this slide shows how we saw a very steep fall in cases after the 23rd of October and that was the result of the firebreak period. But you will see how in the last few days those figures have started to rise again. Yesterday, 16 of the 22 local authorities in Wales recorded rises in the seven-day rolling case rate. The overall rate for Wales is now 187 cases per 100,000 of the population and is rising. Last week, when I spoke, it was 160 cases and falling. And that just shows us once again how quickly the situation can change with coronavirus. The bottom graph here shows the number of deaths each day from coronavirus. You can see how in late July and August we managed to suppress daily deaths many days to zero. Once the autumn began, that number began to rise and rise steeply again. We see a small fall as a result of the firebreak period, but the number continues to be at that high rate. And every one of those cases, every one of those figures as we know represents a family and people who are grieving today because of the coronavirus experience. Behind those figures, we are particularly concerned about the increases we are seeing in people under 25. Every local authority, other than one today, saw a rise in the incidence rate amongst the under 25-year-olds. And over the course of this pandemic, we have seen how the virus has spread initially amongst younger age groups and then moving on to older and to more vulnerable people. During the firebreak and in the weeks immediately afterwards, we saw the R number in Wales fall below one. But the latest calculations suggest that R could be as high as 1.4 in Wales today. Further evidence that coronavirus is back circulating widely and quickly in our communities. The ground that we gained during the firebreak period is being eroded as the virus thrives on normal human behaviour. Now we entered into the firebreak in order to protect our NHS and our hospitals. But the result of the recent days is that the hospital system in Wales remains under sustained pressure. The next slide shows how the number of people with coronavirus in hospitals in Wales has continued to grow week on week. The very top line, the grey line, gives us the total number. And you see how, on the 23rd of September, that number has steadily risen. It's made up of different components. The number of people with suspected coronavirus has been suppressed because of our testing regime. The yellow line is the number of people recovering from coronavirus. And that goes up because once somebody is so ill they need a hospital bed with coronavirus, they stay in hospital for up to three weeks at a time. And then the top line shows, pardon me, the orange line shows the impact of the firebreak period, a stabilising in the number of people with confirmed coronavirus, but not falling back in a way that would relieve pressure on our system. The latest figure you see there shows that there are more than 1,700 people with coronavirus in hospital in Wales. At the end of September, that was below 400. A rise of over 1,000 people, additionally in our hospitals, putting enormous pressure on services and staff. Yesterday I chaired a meeting of the Social Partnership Council for Wales. We heard there at first hand about the toll that coronavirus is taking on our colleagues in the National Health Service. We cannot claim freedoms for ourselves at the expense of their welfare and well-being. Today our NHS goes on providing care for thousands of people who need hospital care every day, including those with coronavirus, but it can only do this. If we all act together to stem the flow of the virus, and this is all the more important, of course, during the winter period when pressures on the NHS are in any case the most intense of any part of the year. Now earlier this week I met with First Ministers from Scotland and Northern Ireland and Michael Gove from the UK government to discuss a common set of arrangements for Christmas. We agreed a five-day period between December 23 and 27 where travel restrictions will be lifted across the UK and up to three households would be able to form a Christmas bubble. Relaxing the restrictions will allow families to be together maybe for the first time this year for just a few days over the festive period. But there is always a risk that when we come together we will spread or catch the virus. We therefore need to have as much headroom as possible as we approach the Christmas period to enable that relaxation to take place. This week we have seen restrictions tightened and extended in many countries across the whole of Europe. The UK government has announced a strengthened tier regime which comes into force in England from Wednesday of next week. Today Northern Ireland begins a new two-week lockdown period and Scotland has this week extended the highest level restrictions there. We too now here in Wales need to use the coming weeks to reduce the spread of the virus and to create more headroom for the Christmas period. That doesn't mean a return to firebreak arrangements but the Cabinet has agreed to take further specific and targeted action to reinforce the current national measures we have in place. We will focus on those places where we meet and where coronavirus thrives drawing on the recent evidence from SAGE about those interventions that have the greatest impact on the virus. Any additional actions we take will build on that SAGE advice but will be designed to meet the unique circumstances we face here in our country. Cinemas, bowling alleys and other indoor entertainment venues will now close. There will be new restrictions in the hospitality industry which will come into effect on Friday of next week. Now I know just how hard the sector has worked to put measures in place to protect the public and I know that this will be a worrying time for all those working in the industry. That is why over this weekend we will be working with partners to finalise the details of the new arrangements and to put in place a further major package of financial support to respond to the challenges and changes faced in that industry. I will be here again on Monday to give further details of that whole package. Just to be clear that non-essential retail, hairdressers, gyms, leisure centres and so on will continue to operate as now. The new arrangements will apply to the whole of Wales. That is necessary because we need a further national effort to bring down the rates in those parts of the country where there are high and to protect those areas from getting any worse where we have sustained the advantages of the firebreak for longer. A national approach can continue to protect us all. None of us want to see further restrictions in our daily lives or in our economy. But we are facing a virus that is both cruel and relentless, especially in its pursuit of the most vulnerable. It is speeding up as we move further into winter and it thrives in all those places where we come into close contact with one another. By adding to the actions we are taking now, we can prepare responsibly for Christmas. Once again, I want to say thank you to everyone for all that has been done already throughout this long and difficult year. As we move into 2021, we know there is some hope on the horizon with promising research results now in a number of potential vaccines. Together, we are keeping Wales safe. Diolch i'r galon i chi gyd. I take questions now as usual, but as usual as well, all the answers will be broadcast live on our own social media channels. Diolch i'r fawr ac yn taw prynhawn mae first this afternoon over to Telerri Glynjols o BBC Wales. Prif Weinidog diolch yn fawr iawn. If we can have both of the following answers in Welsh please, I'd be very grateful. We understand from sources within the industry that you're going to bring in the equivalent of level three in Scotland, which means that for hospitality it means that the place will close at six and they won't be able to serve alcohol. Is that right? If so, why not announce it today? Well, you're better off relying on sources from the Welsh Government because we will tell you authoritatively what it is we are doing. What you have described to Telerri is an accurate reflection of level three restrictions in Scotland, but the Welsh Government has not concluded our discussions with the sector. We will do that over the weekend and then I will be able to tell you authoritatively the arrangements that will be available in hospitality in Wales. Dydyn ni ddim wedi dod i'r ben i'r trofodaethau gyda'r y sector a eto ni'n mynd i siaraddan nhw dros a epinwthnos, a pethau oedd chi'n cyfeirio ato yn wir am beth i'n digwydd ar Alban o'r penderfyniadau a'r hynnylion dydyn ni ddim wedi'i wneud nhw, eto am y angymru, achos ni'n isio siarad gada'r bobl sy'n gweithio yn y sector ac i dod a pekin o'r cymorth ni'n mynd i'r rhoi ariannol, a pekin o'r cymorth ariannol ni'n mynd i'r rhoi i'r sector hefyd i'n mynd i'n wneud hwnna dros a pinwthnos, a byddai i'n ôl fan hyn ar dydd llun gada'r amynallion i gyd. I handheld the teaching union has called for schools to close early on 11 December, in order to make sure that teachers and students won't have to self isolate on Christmas day. That's not our intention. We remain in discussions of course with local education authorities and the teaching unions. unigwyddi. We have put a priority throughout the pandemic on the education of our children. They missed out earlier in the year, the impact of coronavirus is still very real in our schools and in our communities, we will do everything we can to keep our schools working up until Christmas, we'll do that alongside the union, the headteachers and the local education legally established authorities, it is more important for our children not to miss out further on the education that is planned for them for the whole of the rest of this term. That is what we will be working to achieve. Ond ystod y pandemic i gyd ni'n wedi trio i roi blaenoriaeth i'r plant ni yma yng Nghymru ac i'r adhesg mae nhw'n gael ar ysgol. Mae'n wedi cael ei mas ar adhesg nôl yn mis ebryl a mis mai. Ni'n wedi llwyddo i cael ysgolion nôl ac yn gweithio yma yng Nghymru. Ni'n cydweithio wrth gwrs gyda'r yn debau, gyda'r awdododau lleol a ni'n dal i'n ei dhanu. Ond y bwriad ew, i cadw ysgolion yn rhedeg lan tan yn y ddolig fel ni wedi cynllunio dhanu yn barod. Ond ni'n neud hynny achos a pwysicroedd i ddal ati gyda'r adhes gan plant ni yma yng Nghymru a dynna beth ni'n mynd i trio i'n neud. Tyrru, diolch o ffordd trw Adrian Masters at ITV Wales. Felly, hynny'n gweithio y Minister i'r cydweithio, byddai'r cyfrifiadau yna y llunio ar amser ar fynd yn dynnu? Mae'r cyfrifiadau yna yma, oherwydd mae'n cyfrifiadau bolliglion syniadau ac os gallwch fod oherwydd mae'n ddynnu arser i ddweud? A ddoddodd adeiladodau yn y ddau nôl a'r ddodd arall o'r cyfrifiadau ar gyfer cyfrifiadau, yn yr adeiladau ar gyfer cyfrifiadau, oherwydd mae'n ddodd ar gael cynnig arall? Thank you Adrian. The data I gave of Friday of next week was specifically for the hospitality sector and we've chosen that because of advice we've already had from the sector about the importance of giving them some time to prepare for that. We'll have further discussions with the entertainment venues and we'll agree a date with them that works for them as well. We have a single o'r Prif Weinidog wedi cael eu gwneud ydyd i'w dechrau. A ydych chi am iawn i'r ffyrdd cerdd fry! Wel, ymlaen i'r cyfrifiadau bod weithio ar adael yr un hit ar roi swyddiyn aeth y prif Weinidog wedi'u cyfrifiadau a'u cyfrifiadau gallwn i ddangos y dyfodol yma. Abertaf hwnnw ddim ymwyl a yna ganellu, mae yma'r ystyried yr wyf yn yw hi'n digwydd ar gyfer yni yn ddweud i'r oeddiadau a'r gweithio ffais ffordd o'r cyfnodol. Wrth gwrs, mae'n bod yn fwy o'r ffrindiau gweld yng Nghymru. Mae'n ddweud o'r ffrindiau gweld yng Nghymru, mae'r rhai o'r ffrindiau gweld yng Nghymru. Mae'r rhai o'r ffrindiau gweld yng Nghymru yn ymgyrch yn ymdill yn ymgyrch, mae'n ddweud i ddweud, mae 21 o'r 22 fffrindiau gweld yng nghymru, ymliegwyr deilio'r cyfrifio ar y llefodau sy'n cyfrifio ar y cyfrifio hwnnw. Y patern yn ysbyt ydych chi'n gwirionedd y pandemig. Y patern yn ysbyt ymlaen i'r bwysig ymlaen i'r eu cyfrifio ar gyfer y bwrdd ymlaen i'r gŷu Cymru. Felly yw'r cyfrifio ar y cwrin i'r llefodau sy'n cyfrifio, mae'r cyfrifio ar gyfer yng Nghyrchu Ac yw'r cyfrifio ar gael gwirionedd. That it is toox childcare too to make sure that they don't see the adverse impact that otherwise would be there from allowing the incidence rate to rise. So it's a national system because we need a national effort and that national effort protects people in every part of Wales. But if you had a tiered approach, if you took the tiered approach not only would it reflect perhaps the kind of differences that your talk about within different parts of Wales felly mae'r newid yw'r cyfrifio'n hyffordd i'r cyfrifio yma, a'u gael i gael i'ch gael gŵr i'ch gwasanaeth unig o ran yw'r rhaglen yma. Daeth o'r Cymru'r ymlaen i chi yw'r prcynr o'r cyfrifio gyffrwysau cyfrifio arall? Mae'r pethau o'r gyrtod arall. Rwy'n cael ei wneud o'r cefnod o'r rhaglen cyfrifio gyffrwysau Cymru o'r rhaglen cyffrwysau cyfrifio cyffrwysau Cyfrifio gyffrwysau Cyfrifio. Felly ei bod yn ei wneud ymddangos i chi'n gwybod i fynd arall. Fyd, ydych chi'n model y ddylch yn ychwaneddoedd, ym hwnnw, roedd y trofyn oedd hyn oedd yn gwneud hynny. A gweld yma yng Nghymru yn ei wneud, sy'n mynd i chi'n gwybod i ddweud y dyweddig yn y cyfnodau yn y cyfnodol yma a'r rhaglen i'r cyfnodol, a'r pwysig yw'n nhw'n gwneud yn y cyfnodol is that a single set of arrangements for Wales works best, is easiest to communicate, delivers benefits in all parts of Wales. I'll move on to Mark Smith of Wales online. Thank you very much indeed, First Minister. The hope was that the firebreak lockdown would get us through to Christmas. Now we know that it only really brought us a few weeks. Does that mean that you're less likely to consider a circuit breaker lockdown in future, or was two weeks perhaps just not enough to allow for an extended suppression of virus? Well, thank you, Mark. So, you know, it's very important we learn the lessons of what we are doing. I think the firebreak, the figures we have and the advice we have is that the firebreak achieved everything that we had hoped of it. I'll probably achieve a little bit more in the extent to which it suppressed the virus. The problem is, is in the post-firebreak period, as people have mixed its comeback faster and further than we had anticipated, and that is why we are taking the additional action, so I've described today. It doesn't mean I'm afraid that we can rule anything out for the future. Northern Ireland, as I said, going into a firebreak period for two weeks today, we benefited hugely from the firebreak period and all the efforts that were made. We now have to do a bit more to add to the repertoire of actions we are taking in the post-firebreak period, and the rapidity with which the pattern changes, the speed at which this virus can move, means that I'm afraid it just isn't sensible to rule out any response that we may need to make later on and into next year. Thank you very much, and secondly, ahead of the finalising of the four nations' Christmas bubble plans, you said the four chief medical officers of the UK have been tasked with providing data or modelling to the final meeting showing the projected impact of such a change to the rules on infection rates and case numbers. What were those figures, and what impact in terms of a number or range of cases and deaths? Do you expect a relaxation of the rules between December 22nd and 27th to have in Wales? We did take that advice from chief medical officers, and it wasn't provided in the numerical way that I think you're asking me. The advice from the chief medical officers was this, that whenever people are allowed to mix more than they are at the moment, there is an additional risk that coronavirus will circulate, and we're likely to see that in the number of people who contract the disease. We know that some people who contract the disease, that becomes a serious illness. But the reason why it wasn't possible to quantify was that the second strand in their advice was that the impact depended crucially on how we go into that five-day period. The more the virus is suppressed in the lead-up to the five-day period, the more the additional risk of the five-day period can be mitigated. It's partly because of that second strand in the advice that I am making the announcements I've made today about the additional measures we will take. We need in Wales to do more to enter that Christmas period with the virus as effectively suppressed as we can, because that will help us to mitigate the additional risks that are inevitable, even over a five-day period, when more people will be able to spend more time in one another's company. Mark, thank you. Over to Mark Hutchins at Five Live. Thanks very much. Go back to the lessons learned from the firebreak. Wasn't it clear that the mistake was not that it was just too short, but that it wasn't followed by a stepping stone of restrictions, restrictions such as we are now about to enter, so that if we do have another firebreak, won't they have to be followed by tougher restrictions than the ones we have? Well, I think that is a very fair point and I'm not going to dissent from it really, but the firebreak period itself was successful. It's how things have happened since then that have led to the increase in figures, and it may be that had we had stricter restrictions coming out to the firebreak, that might have made a difference. It's inevitably a bit speculative, but it's very certainly an arguable proposition. And if cases continue to rise over the coming weeks, would it be irresponsible to proceed with the relaxed restrictions that you've agreed for Christmas? Well, it depends what choice you think you've got, Mark. So, you know, I was convinced by everything that I saw and was told that the choice we face over Christmas is not between a heavily restricted period of the sort we have now, or a relaxed period, because a heavily restricted period of the sort we have now was simply not going to be observed by too many people for it to be effective. For many, many people, Christmas is a very special time in their lives, and even more so this year because of the way in which they've not been able to spend time in the company of relatives and friends and so on. And if we weren't able to find a regulated way in which people were going to meet over Christmas, we were very likely to see people just making the rules for themselves, and we would just have an unregulated approach to Christmas in which the risks were even higher. So, there was never a choice in my mind between a risk-free, button-down Christmas cancel this year approach, because that was simply not going to work. That wasn't the choice available. The choice was between a regulated, controlled, bounded, rule-based approach to Christmas where most people we know in Wales, most people will want to know what those rules are and will be very keen indeed to stick by them, and that maximises the chances that we can mitigate the risks that would have been there and would have been exaggerated. Had we simply tried to persuade people to do something that they simply weren't prepared to do. Mark, thank you to Peter Gillibrand of LBC. Delch yn fawr, Prif Weinidog. Thank you very much, First Minister. I'm sure you can agree a lot of businesses will be stressfully waiting for the news of what's going to come. Is an England tier 3 rule for pubs and restaurants still an option for these new measures? Is there only sensible businesses here prepared for the worst-case scenario where they have to all but close, or is that completely off the table? No, Peter. Nothing is off the table. Telerri, earlier on, described the Scottish level 3 restrictions. You are referring to the English tier 3 level restrictions, which are different in detail but intended to have the same effect. I want to make sure that we can discuss with the sector and other partners over this weekend the detail of the additional restrictions which we will be introducing in the hospitality field from Friday of next week. I understand that that creates anxiety for people in the sector but what I'm saying to them is that a couple of days in which we work with you to get this right and where we work with you and others to get the package of support that we want to offer you during the period after Friday of next week, I think that is worth it because we'll get a better set of detailed arrangements and I'll be in a position to make all of that clear on Monday. Now going to pubs, given Boris Johnson's announced that customers can leave the pubs by 11pm, is there more evidence to suggest that the 10pm curfee on pubs here isn't as effective as you thought? Are you potentially considering the 11pm time as our neighbours over the border? Well, we've always had a different system in Wales because the English system was an 11pm curfee. You need to be outside standing on the pavement at 10pm rather. We don't serve alcohol after 10pm. But we've always allowed pubs and restaurants time for people to finish their meal, drink up and leave in a more orderly way. So, while I see the promise identifying 11pm in those parts of England where pubs are still open, remember that's only a very, there are lots of parts of England where pubs are closed completely, as you said in your first question. But all that is happening in England really is that they are coming into line with the way in which we have operated the 10pm arrangements here in Wales. Over to the Daily Post and to Andrew Forgrave. Good afternoon, First Minister. Given the new and quite dramatic upsurge in cases across Wales, had this forced you into changing the collecting plans you had for the pre-Christmas period? And if cases continue to rise, is there now a danger of a pre-Christmas fire break? Is that now more likely? I think it's less likely as a result of what I've said today because we are adding to the significant restrictions we already have here in Wales to strengthen our ability to control the rise in the virus. But, of course, there are many, many other things that can be done to help in that effort. All the things we've talked about over the last couple of weeks particularly, it's the things we do in our daily lives that make the biggest difference. Only meeting people when we need to, only travelling when we must, working from home wherever we can, keeping a social distance from people. Those are the things that make the biggest difference of all. Provided we do those things, then the actions we've already taken and the additional actions that I've outlined this morning, then they will have a further impact. They will allow our NHS to go on, not simply treating coronavirus patients, but all the other things that people look to our NHS to provide. And we will do what we always do. We will keep a very close watch on this week by week, day by day, and find a way of allowing the NHS to go on doing the job we all wanted to be able to do. Thank you very much indeed for the answer. You said that there won't be a tier system in Wales that arenasums will be national. However, it's clear that there are market differences in infection rates between North and South Wales. Is there a danger that the system will unfairly penalise those counties which have been assiduously following the rules in order to keep infection rates down? Well Andrew, I recognise that North Wales has succeeded in prolonging the advantage of the fire brick for longer than other parts of Wales. But rates amongst the under 25-year-olds in North Wales are rising again, and it is only a matter of time. We really have seen this pattern right throughout the pandemic. It is only a matter of time before that begins to feed through into older age groups in the North Wales population. So the actions we are taking today are designed to capture the advantages North Wales already has and to make sure that we defend those advantages. We are acting in a way to make sure that the things that have gone well in North Wales go on acting positively to the benefit of the North Wales population. I think it's very much, the all Wales approach is very much designed to defend the advantages that people in some parts of Wales have and to secure new advantages for those parts of Wales where the virus has began to rise again. And just one final point I suppose, which is anybody who has been watching what has happened in Pembrokeshire, Cymraeddinshire and Ceredigion over the last week or so will see just how fast areas can go from having relatively benign levels of coronavirus to quite serious levels of infection. We've seen schools having to be closed in Pembrokeshire, schools having to be closed in Ceredigion because of that sudden swing in the wrong direction. I don't want to see that having to happen in North Wales and the decisions we have taken will defend people in North Wales from this virus. Andrew, thank you very much indeed. Over to Rob Taylor at Drexham.com. Good afternoon. A second outbreak at Drexham hospitals declared just over 20 days ago. What's the latest on that? And previously there was a mention that the report is the first outbreak could be published this month. Is that still the case? Well Rob, I've come armed with the figures for you today not having failed to bring them with me last week. So the figures I have are for the Mila and the community hospitals that are associated with it. They suggest that there are between 80 and 90 patient cases in the Mila itself and between 40 and 50 cases in community hospital settings that there are just over 20 staff who have tested positive in that part of the BCU area. That does mean of course that there are additional staff currently in isolation. The IMT has decided to meet twice weekly rather than weekly as it has been as a result and are providing additional advice and assistance to the Board in areas of infection control, admissions and so on. I'm sorry, I don't know the answer. I've not seen or read anything that suggests it's not being published as planned but I haven't seen it. I know it hasn't come across my desk confirming a date for its publication either. Thank you very much. Is it possible to explain your understanding of hospitality with many venues investing extra PPE and processes? Is it greater risk than say retail and perhaps specifically supermarkets which going off public health England data was primary setting where those who tested positive in the disease had been reported to have been? Well I think the differences between hospitality and the retail sector include these. First of all it's the length of time that people are spending them. Well if you're like me at any rate you go into a shop and you try and get around it enough to gain as fast as you are able to whereas if you're going out for a meal or something then you are inevitably spending longer there. You spend that time with a limited number of people you will pass people in shops. Of course some people must wear masks in shops. Here in Wales but you're not sitting down for an hour and a half with a small group of other people in a retail setting where we know that that is true in hospitality. You're not likely to be drinking alcohol as you walk around the supermarket but you're very likely to be doing that if you're out for an evening in a hospitality venue and for some people most people have a drink absolutely fine for some people having a drink means they behave in ways as a result that put themselves and others at greater risk and there is good evidence Sage publishes it that shows that hospitality venues even when they're very well run they can be a source of coronavirus spreading both inside the venue and sometimes even more so in the way in which people behave as they get to the venue and as they leave it afterwards and I think all of those means it's possible to distinguish between the way that people behave in retail settings and the way that they do in hospitality but thank you Rob over to Dan Barnes at the South Wales Argus Thank you very much We've seen schools in our area sending year groups home to self-isolate on nearly a daily basis with one cwmbran primary school closing entirely for a week because of rising cases Are you worried that parents may just decide to take their children out of school before the end of term with Christmas on the horizon? Well I do hope that won't be the case I know parents will know just how important a period of time the end of term is in primary schools particularly around Christmas they will know that children were being preparing for it in a new coronavirus secure way of course and that children gain enormous benefit from being with their peers and in the classroom at that time in their school lives they only get a limited number of chances to be a child in a primary school and most parents will want to make sure children get the most out of it There is more we need to do and want to do in working with schools to make sure that they are organised in ways that does not require whole school years to be isolated when a single child or member of staff is tested positive and we are working actively at the moment on whether the new mass testing possibilities that we now have in Wales could be deployed in school settings to prevent the need for children to be sent home when one child turns out to have coronavirus and you know I said earlier that vaccines are on the horizon while mass testing in the way we are seeing it in Murther for example is a new part of the repertoire we will increasingly have over recent weeks and may well be able to deploy in the education context to avoid the sort of problem that you referred to Dan Thank you very much This has been touched on before but I thought I would ask with the kind of a Gwent perspective In Gwent we have seen cases rising more quickly than in many other areas of Wales Does this mean that another round of stricter local regulations is inevitable? Well you are right to say that just as Andrew Fourgrade was pointing out the fact that north Wales has hung on to the advantages of the fibre break for longer they eroded first of all in Gwent I make the same case there as I did in north Wales at a national effort with a single set of rules that we can easily communicate and are therefore more likely to be followed remains we think the most effective way of providing a response to coronavirus in all parts of Wales is that we need it to work in the Gwent area and I think doing it in this national way is to the advantage of all parts of Wales whether it's places where the virus has began to rise and needs to be turned back or whether we're trying to hang on to the gains that we made over that fire break period Dan, thank you, I'll go to Alan Evans at Nellie online Thank you First Minister, it's nice to hear your shopping style is similar to mine just looking at the main elections they're the pinnacle of democracy in Wales we've seen how the USA have conducted their elections during the pandemic does the First Minister agree that the election must not be delayed and that the people of Wales should be given every opportunity to vote in person by postal vote and maybe even the possibility of moving to an online voting system given the future with Covid? Personally, I'm very committed to having an election in May of next year it'll be five years since we had the last election and the Senedd needs a democratic refresh and it is right that the decisions about who is put into the Senedd are made by people here in Wales so we will be doing more as a government to promote the use of postal votes my fear about May is simply that if coronavirus were to be back again and we were seeing another upswing of it I don't want people to be put off from voting because they're fearful of going to a polling station and thinking all the other people who will be using it at the same time the best way to avoid that is to get a postal vote and then you don't run that risk you can always walk to the polling station with your postal vote on the day if you would like to see it going into the ballot box and I know many people do you don't miss out by having a postal vote it just gives you that extra choice and we'll be promoting that and I know local authorities will be too we have been talking about whether we could have extended opening hours for polling stations not more hours on the one day of polling but opening them for a few days before the normal Thursday so people could space out when they go there again to make it more convenient and make it less anxious for people I've had a series of conversations with young people about whether we should just have online voting there are parts of Europe that conduct all their elections now online and young people who vote for almost anything on their phones I think struggle to see why they can't vote in an election in that way the truth is at this point the systems aren't secure enough the backup that you would need isn't what you would need to be to give everybody confidence that if they press a button on their phone that vote is genuinely being registered being registered in the way that they want I'm anxious not to find ourselves in the American position where doubts can be cast on legitimate elections because you can make people fearful of the way they've been conducted but I think the future when we can make them secure in that way is very likely to involve more online opportunities for people than we've seen in the past just a little sideways move now at a time when community has never been more important Cymarnyshire County Council proposes to close two small schools in Cymarnshire one in Blinai, one in Manatigari both are areas of deprivation have suffered loss of major industries and community facilities in Manatigari they've lost everything bar for the school the move would add 610 car journeys per week cars having to cross a busy bypass walking the school is not an option would the First Minister study the proposals with a view to ensuring the villagers have at least a chance at saving this school given that we may have Covid for a very long time well thank you I'm not familiar with the proposals in Manatigari what I do know is that we have changed the rules during this Senedd term so that the presumption is that small rural schools stay open so the local authority doesn't have a level playing field it positively has to make the arguments as to why those schools should close it doesn't mean that all rural schools will always stay open because sometimes there will be a case that a local authority can mount as to why that school should close but the presumption is that they stay open and that will be the case in Manatigari and Blinai as well and thank you finally for today to Tom Magner at Careers World Thank you First Minister Earlier this week on vaccine priorities your colleague the health minister acknowledged that unpaid carers are asking to be classed as key workers alongside NHS and social care workers for vaccine priority when available however he appeared to say that the public health Wales age band basis was a more credible approach than one focused on critical health consequences so to our viewers it looked like the answer was no to including unpaid carers in this way we've had a lot of reaction it's summed up in two points made to us by Mike from Vale of Glamorgan I and he would be interested in your thoughts so the first comment he made was I'm honestly beginning to feel like unpaid carers will always be at the bottom of the pile the adults I care for will be vaccinated long before I am but who will care for them if I get ill with Covid-19 OK well Tom our approach to vaccination will be guided by the advice of what's called the JCVI the joint committee on vaccination and immunisation so we will not be making up a set of rules of our own we always follow the advice of the JCVI here in Wales they have not finalised their advice because as you will have seen different vaccines are looking as though they have different advantages for different groups in the population so they are working out how to make the best use of the vaccines that will become available and we will follow their advice if they tell us to use a key worker approach that is what we will do if they tell us that an aged categorised approach is the best one the most effective one I am sure that is what we will do as well and many carers in Wales would be captured by an aged weighted approach wouldn't they because we know the nature of caring in Wales we have more older people providing caring to others than other parts of the United Kingdom so if the JCVI were to say to us you must start with the older groups in the population first then as it happens in Wales many many informal carers would be captured by that approach thank you for that we will obviously follow that up in the future the second comment he makes and it is a wider comment he says at this point I didn't expect any different that was in relation to vaccine priorities he goes on to say we have had no help at all all the way through this they say that is your government says that you know that we are not going to stop caring so will they just expect us to get on with it with no help we will anyway well of course I am disappointed to hear that someone who would have wanted help didn't get help but I don't think it would be fair to read from that one experience the idea that informal carers in Wales don't get any help at all because we invest considerable sums of money working with both local authorities and with carers organisations to provide additional help for those unpaid carers on whom so many individuals and families in Wales rely our 2014 social services and wellbeing Wales Act was framed in many ways around our wish to provide more assistance to carers here in Wales and I definitely want to say that the help that we are able to provide is certainly not mitigated by the belief that people will carry on anyway whether we give them help or not for a start we know that that's not true and some unpaid carers are unable to carry on unless they are supported and in any case it wouldn't reflect the values of the Welsh Government or I think the way in which people in Wales generally think of people in valuable service Thank you all very much indeed