Schools in North Wales will stay open despite the coronavirus outbreak, Wales' health minister has confirmed.
During a Welsh Government press conference this afternoon (Thursday), Vaughan Gething said that shutting down schools "is not the appropriate step to take" at this time.
Amid the continuing spread of Covid-19 , schools across the country were expected to close on Friday for at least a month but Mr Gething has ruled this out for the time being, saying: "The consequence of closing schools isn't the right thing to do at this point."
Schools, colleges and universities in Scotland will also stay open but First Minister Nicola Sturgeon has said the issue would be kept "under review", WalesOnline reports .
If schools were to close, they may have to remain closed until the summer, the First Minister added.
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Coronavirus latest
Scotland will ban gatherings of more than 500 people from Monday but this will not affect Wales' Six Nations game this weekend, Mr Gething has said.
Wales is now in a community transmission phase and the kind of rapid growth that results in high fatality rates "may be coming our way" according Wales' chief medical officer Frank Atherton.
Dr Atherton said that the virus appears to be affecting elderly men the most and that children are only having milder versions of the illness.
He added that Wales is now beyond the "contain phase" and that anyone with the identified symptoms are likely to be positive for Covid-19.
The advice will be if you become unwell is to isolate yourself for seven days.
Dr Atherton said: “The advice we are giving from tomorrow is if people have new symptoms such as a cough, fever or feel ill that they should self-isolate for seven days.”
He added: “It will involve personal sacrifice such as not going to work or school, but that will be the advice”
“We are doing this now so that we can reduce the peak of demand. The more we can move this to the summer months, the more time we have to prepare our health and social care systems”.
Routine tests will now be limited to certain groups such as healthcare workers so they can continue to provide care.
