Cabinet meeting: 23 August 2021
Minutes of a meeting (via Teams) of the Cabinet on 23 August 2021.
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Present
- Rt. Hon. Mark Drakeford MS (Chair)
- Rebecca Evans MS
- Vaughan Gething MS
- Jane Hutt MS
- Julie James MS
- Eluned Morgan MS
- Mick Antoniw MS
- Dawn Bowden MS
- Hannah Blythyn MS
- Julie Morgan MS
- Lynne Neagle MS
Apologies
- Lesley Griffiths MS
- Jeremy Miles MS
- Lee Waters MS
Officials
- Des Clifford, Director General Office of the First Minister
- Will Whiteley, Deputy Director Cabinet Division
- Simon Jenkins, Strategic Communications
- Jane Runeckles, Special Adviser
- Madeleine Brindley, Special Adviser
- Alex Bevan, Special Adviser
- Daniel Butler, Special Adviser
- Ian Butler, Special Adviser
- Kate Edmunds, Special Adviser
- Sara Faye, Special Adviser
- Clare Jenkins, Special Adviser
- Andrew Johnson, Special Adviser
- Mitch Theaker, Special Adviser
- Tom Woodward, Special Adviser
- Christopher W Morgan, Cabinet Secretariat (minutes)
- Helen Carey, Cabinet Secretariat
- Andrew Goodall, Director General, Health
- Frank Atherton CMO
- Chris Jones, Deputy CMO
- Tom Smithson, COVID-19 Restart
- Helen Lentle, Director Legal Services
- Neil Buffin, Senior Lawyer
- Terry Kowal, Senior Legislative Counsel
- Steffan Roberts, Deputy Director Tourism
Item 1: Minutes of previous meetings
1.1 Cymeradwyodd y Cabinet gofnodion y 29 Gorffennaf a 2 Awst / Cabinet approved the minutes of 29 July and 2 August.
Item 2: Review of Coronavirus Restrictions (No. 5) Regulations – 26 August 2021
2.1 The First Minister introduced the paper, which recommended that Wales should remain at Alert Level 0 for the current review period.
2.2 Ministers were reminded that the restrictions relating to COVID-19 within the Coronavirus Control Plan were for the purpose of preventing, protecting against, controlling or providing a public health response to the incidence, spread of infection or contamination. There must be a threat to public health and the restrictions had to be proportionate in what they were intending to achieve.
2.3 The First Minister invited the Chief Medical Officer to provide an overview of the current public health situation.
2.4 Community transmission rates continued to increase in Wales and the number of cases in people over the age of 60 was also rising. The overall 7 day average was around 208 in every 100,000 of the population. The number of people becoming infected was expected to increase further in the coming weeks with the return of students to schools and colleges.
2.5 Hospital and ICU admissions were increasing slowly, but this was still relatively stable. The vaccination programme was continuing at pace, but there was a need for a significant push to reach out to those who were reluctant to accept the vaccine.
2.6 The Chief Executive of the NHS reported that, despite ongoing pressures, all health boards remained within the current operational modelling for the pandemic.
2.7 Given the reports on the public health situation, Cabinet agreed that Wales should remain at Alert Level 0 for the current review period.
2.8 In terms of the recommendations within the paper concerning face coverings, Cabinet agreed to remove the anomaly where people were required to wear a mask at a wedding or civil partnership ceremony but could remove it for the subsequent reception.
2.9 Cabinet approved the paper.