Support our Nation today - please donate here
News

First Ministers of Wales and Scotland write to Johnson demanding action on Omicron variant

29 Nov 2021 3 minute read
Mark Drakeford, Boris Johnson and Nicola Sturgeon

The First Ministers of Wales and Scotland have written to Boris Johnson demanding he take action to tackle the spread of the new Omicron variant of Covid-19.

Mark Drakeford and Nicola Sturgeon have made a number of demands, including that he introduce much tighter restrictions on international travel, as concerns about the variant continues to grow.

The new variant was first reported in South Africa last Wednesday and the early evidence suggests it has a higher re-infection risk and it is also feared the vaccines could be less effective against it. Although partially or fully jabbed people were less likely to be become seriously ill.

Experts have warned that it appears to spread “very rapidly” and that it can be spread between people who are double vaccinated.

The letter asks that an urgent Cobra meeting be held so the latest scientific information is shared. It also asks that PCR tests be reintroduced on day 8 of a traveller’s return to the UK alongside the ‘day 2’ requirement already announced.

The First Ministers want confirmation devolved financial business support schemes will be funded by the Treasury in the event “more interventionist measures” are required.

The letter says: “The emergence of Omicron poses a potential threat to the UK. It is clear that the strain is already here and that it appears highly transmissible.

“We need to work collectively – and effectively – as Four Nations to take all reasonable steps to control the ingress of the virus to the country and then to limit its spread. We are clear that a four nations approach to issues such as border restrictions is the most effective approach.

“This requires that a meeting of the COBRA committee be held as soon as possible.

“We would wish to use that opportunity to see the latest evidence from UK Government health professionals on the variant and to understand the international picture along with the implications that it might have for the UK.

“In particular, we believe the reinstatement of a requirement for a ‘day 8’ PCR test for travellers arriving into the UK – alongside the ‘day 2’ requirement already announced, and thereby requiring isolation for that whole period – is now necessary. Public health advice is unequivocal that this is the best and safest way to protect against the importation of this variant to the fullest extent possible.”

‘Work hard to minimise’ 

It adds: “While our public health systems work hard to minimise the spread of cases already in the UK, it is imperative that we do all we can to avoid under-cutting these efforts by permitting on-going importation.

“We also wish to confirm that devolved financial business support schemes will be funded by the Treasury in the event more interventionist measures are required to respond to the public health situation.

“In our view, it would be better to consider this now, in advance of a potential escalation in the seriousness of the situation, to support effective planning. In particular, it is important for us to agree that if the conditions in a devolved nation were to require more significant interventions than in England, the agreed package of financial support would be available to that nation. We do not want to be in a position again where our public health interventions are negatively impacted by a lack of financial support, but can be switched on as required for England.

“Given the public interest in our working together to achieve the strongest possible response to this threat, this letter is being made public.”


Support our Nation today

For the price of a cup of coffee a month you can help us create an independent, not-for-profit, national news service for the people of Wales, by the people of Wales.

Subscribe
Notify of
guest
4 Comments
Oldest
Newest Most Voted
Inline Feedbacks
View all comments
GW Atkinson
GW Atkinson
2 years ago

Just do what we need to do and keep johnson away from Wales.He is a failure and we should just close the border to England until this is sorted.

GW Atkinson
GW Atkinson
2 years ago
Reply to  GW Atkinson

Been banned have we and come on with a different name? So are we supposed to let it spread then so the feelings of you and your countrymen aren’t hurt? Shouldn’t your government be closing the border if Wales is as infected as you claim? Tell your PM to shut the border.

Barry Pandy
Barry Pandy
2 years ago
Reply to  GW Atkinson

Well actually… Go to Google and type in “euromomo”. Click on the first link, and then click on “Graphs and Maps”. Scroll down to “Z-scores by country”. Change the date range (on the slide bar) to 2020-01 so that the date range is from the start of the pandemic. On the list of countries de-select all of them so that you can compare all four nations of the UK. The graphs then compare the excess death rates of the four nations, England’s is consistently higher than the three devolved governments. Alternatively you can take a look at “Map of z-scores… Read more »

Leigh Richards
Leigh Richards
2 years ago

Not for the first time this pandemic has starkly illustrated how the union prevents us in Wales (and scotland) from doing what we need to do to limit the impact of this awful virus on our people. A potentially even more lethal variant of covid 19 has emerged but Wales’ leader has to plead with the UK PM to introduce the measures that will be needed to fully deal with it. If Wales was a independent we wouldnt need to do this

Our Supporters

All information provided to Nation.Cymru will be handled sensitively and within the boundaries of the Data Protection Act 2018.