CAROLINE JONES

COLUMNIST

WALES is over the worst of the coronavirus outbreak, for now.

The pandemic, which at its peak threatened to overwhelm our health and care systems, has claimed thousands of lives.

We went into lockdown to prevent the exponential growth of Covid-19, to stop our NHS becoming overwhelmed and tens or even hundreds of thousands of people dying.

We all sacrificed our freedom to ensure that didn’t happen. For months we have stayed away from friends and family, unable to visit loved ones or send our children to school. For many of my constituents this also meant not being able to work or run their businesses.

Despite the biggest government job protection scheme in history, we face a bleak economic future. Before this pandemic is over, many millions will lose their jobs. And the pandemic is far from over.

We may be past the peak but we can’t go back to life as it was in February. A vaccine is still a long way off but we can’t stay locked away for another year or two while a vaccine is developed. The indirect harms of lockdown are outweighing the benefits.

Cancer screening has stopped. Surgery has stopped. In fact the vast majority of NHS services have stopped. We have to move out of lockdown as quickly as possible to prevent even greater lasting harms.

However, social distancing has to stay as the SARS-CoV-2 virus is still out there. New evidence has shown that even in the worst affected countries, fewer than 5% of people had antibodies against the virus.

Research out last week also showed that the majority of Covid-19 infections may occur when the carrier was not displaying any symptoms, either in the pre-symptomatic phase or in asymptomatic carriers.

We also know that the virus can be spread in the micro-droplets generated by breathing and talking. This is the most worrying development, especially when autumn and winter come and we move more activity indoors.

This is why I have been calling on the Welsh Government to change its policy on facemasks.

The First Minister’s response is to state that face coverings are not a “magic bullet”. We know that. We still need to practice social distancing and hand hygiene.

The Welsh public are not going to forget everything we have been doing for the past four months. Wales is the only UK nation, and one of the few places on earth, that doesn’t mandate the wearing of facemasks in some settings.

Face coverings do not protect the wearer from the virus, but they can and do stop the wearer from spraying micro-droplets and therefore the SARS-CoV-2 virus.

I would like to see face masks mandatory in all public places or, at the very least, on public transport. NHS staff said last week the biggest threat facing us is not Covid-19 but climate change and air pollution. We cannot continue to run public transport at 20% capacity and tell people to avoid using it.

We therefore must mandate the wearing of face masks on buses and trains.

I urge the Welsh Government to reconsider, but if they don’t, I urge the Welsh public to do their bit to protect their fellow citizens and wear a face mask when they leave home.

Stay safe.

■ Caroline Jones MS is Brexit Party Member of the Senedd for South Wales West