“WE COULD BREAK THE CYCLE OF LOCKDOWNS BUT WE NEED A NEW WINTER PLAN”

Adam Price MS calls for mass testing with appropriate supporting measures

Leader of Plaid Cymru Adam Price has today called for mass testing throughout Wales.

A mass testing programme in Slovakia saw infection rates being brought down by 60% in just one week.

The success of the approach was due to both the scale of the testing and the extent of associated measures, such as higher economic support for those self-isolating.

Mr Price said that the programme used in Slovakia could be replicated in Wales to “break the cycle of lockdowns.”

The question was raised in First Ministers Questions, during which Mr Price also called for a roadmap out of the cycle of lockdowns.

In response, First Minister Mark Drakeford acknowledged “nobody should underestimate the seriousness of the position that we are facing in Wales” and called on “everyone to do the right thing” to bring the virus under control which will give us “a path into next year which is different.”

Leader of Plaid Cymru Adam Price MS said,

“In the course of a few days, Slovakia, a country with a population of 5.4 million tested 3.6 million people for coronavirus and this mass testing, coupled with other measures, brought the infection rate down by 60%.

“The success of the Slovakian approach lies not only in the scale of testing but in the higher economic support for those self-isolating.

“There is a lack of clarity in Wales at the moment as to where we are headed between now and the Spring.

“We desperately need a strategy for regaining control, for reopening, and for our recovery, but what is even more important is the public support for such a plan.

“Isn’t now the time that the Welsh Government presents a new winter plan?”