Ahead of the Labour Government in Cardiff Bay’s review of coronavirus restrictions tomorrow, the Welsh Conservatives are calling for ministers to set out a date to scrap all Covid-related laws, including the legal requirement to self-isolate.
Shadow Health Minister Russell George MS has said the move would “signal a return to normality, living with the virus, and the return of the Welsh people’s freedoms”.
He also highlights that despite utilising a more cautious approach to the pandemic, Mark Drakeford’s Labour Government has failed to protect the people of Wales through restrictions, highlighting that Wales still has the UK’s highest Covid death-rate.
They are also calling for the immediate removal of:
- The vaccine passport scheme;
- All remaining business restrictions;
- Social distancing;
- Household mixing rules; and
- Mandatory face masks in schools.
The Party was successful in forcing a roadmap out of restrictions in last week’s review of restrictions in Wales, stating Labour ministers had “overreacted” to the Omicron variant, especially in the context of high -take-up of the booster jab, to the detriment of families and businesses.
However, the Welsh Conservatives do not believe the roadmap goes far enough as they only return Wales to Alert Level 0 which still imposes a number of restrictions on the freedom of individuals and pressures on businesses and public services.
The Party are already calling for the self-isolation period to be cut to five days, stating the need to test negative twice before leaving isolation and UK HSA evidence showing most people are no longer infectious after five days makes the policy safe and beneficial for businesses, services, and workers.
Earlier this week, the Covid chief of the World Health Organisation suggested that the end of the pandemic is in sight for Britain, with the point of the virus becoming endemic nearing.
On Wednesday, the Prime Minister announced the scrapping of “Plan B” in England next Thursday, with the legal requirement for those with Covid to self-isolate set to go on March 24, or even earlier if the data continues to trend in the right direction.
Commenting, Welsh Conservative Russell George MS said:
“The data says it all: the prevalence of the Omicron variant is receding as quickly as it arrived and we are well beyond the peak of the wave. What we saw was a milder version of Covid yet harsher restrictions, with implications for families, businesses, and public services.
“However, the extraordinary success of the booster vaccination campaign shows that the people of this country and the virus are both behaving in ways that allow us to move back to normality.
“Therefore, the Labour Government in Cardiff Bay should scrap all remaining business restrictions, social distancing, household mixing rules, mandatory face masks in schools, and the complete failure that are vaccine passports.
“It must also set a date for the scrapping of all Covid laws, including the legal requirement to isolate, because the freedoms of the Welsh people must not be withheld much longer without good cause.
“This will signal a return to normality, living with the virus, and the return of the Welsh people’s liberties as government allows us to exercise self-responsibility, as all free societies should, leaving individuals to decide on whether they want to wear a mask, for instance.
“And, of course, with the end of the pandemic in sight in Britain – as the WHO has suggested – we must give our thanks to all those public servants for their efforts over the last two years and remember all those who have died and suffered because of this terrible virus and lockdowns.
“It is not too late for the First Minister to give them all the justice they deserve through a Wales-specific Covid inquiry so those responsible can be held to account and his actions scrutinised.”