Plaid critical of Welsh Government’s Test, Trace, Protect strategy

PLAID CYMRU Shadow Health Minister Rhun ap Iorwerth MS has described the Labour Welsh Government’s ‘test, trace, protect’ strategy published today as more of a “statement of principle” than a “robust or comprehensive plan.”

Plaid Cymru has long been calling for a clear test, trace and isolate plan for Wales.

Mr ap Iorwerth said a strategy is only as good as its implementation plan and said there was “no detailed plan here”.

The Shadow Health Minister also challenged on how this will apply at local level, given that Wales currently has a limited number of mass testing centres and had consistently missed testing targets.

Mr ap Iorwerth warned lockdown could not be lifted safely without a test and trace plan in place and operational.

Plaid Cymru Shadow Health Minister Rhun ap Iorwerth MS said:

“A strategy is only as good as its implementation plan and there’s no detailed plan here that I can see to put the already widely accepted principles of the need to test and trace into practice.

“It’s good to see a pledge to double daily test capacity, but that’s a given, and we were meant to be at that level already. And this is not just about the numbers – we need to see how testing and tracing will be done at pace, with a quick turnaround.

“What I want to know is what access will be available at a local level, how quickly ‘Test, Trace and Isolate’ must take place to be effective, and when we can expect the plan to lead us to a position when restrictions can be lifted.”

“We can’t start thinking of significantly lifting lockdown restrictions before we have a robust test and trace plan, and I don’t think this can be described as anything like a robust, comprehensive or detailed plan – it’s merely a statement of principle.

“A detailed plan for testing, tracing and isolating was long overdue and I think it remains, unfortunately, long overdue.