Image copyright Getty Images

Some lockdown measures may have to be reintroduced in the winter, the health minister Vaughan Gething has warned.

A top Welsh Government official said there is a "real prospect" of a resurgence of the virus late in the year.

Mr Gething said it will depend on the prevalence of coronavirus .

Meanwhile the minister announced NHS health boards are looking at how they can restart planned NHS operations and cancer services.

Speaking at the Welsh Government's daily press briefing, Mr Gething said more details would be published on Wednesday.

Last Monday restrictions in Wales were relaxed so people from two different households could meet outdoors, but it is only if they travel in a local area.

Why winter?

Frank Atherton, the chief medical officer for Wales, has warned of a "real prospect of a resurgence in viral transmission in the autumn and winter".

In a statement on the recent review of the lockdown regulations, he said the virus is "likely to thrive in cooler, indoor environments particularly where people gather closely together".

He recommended that messages to the public highlight "the potential need to re-impose more restrictive measures in the winter if viral activity increases".

Lockdown is reviewed every three weeks.

Dr Atherton also called for the Welsh Government to use "the next review period to develop proposals for further increasing opportunities for the public to safely use a wider range of outdoor spaces".

What did Vaughan Gething say?

"Some of the measures we've been able to unlock are because the time of year we're in," Mr Gething told the press conference.

But it was also because of the fact coronavirus lasts "a lot less in direct sunlight outdoors, but it lasts much longer on indoor surfaces".

"So we do need to think about the fact that we may have to reintroduce some lockdown measures in the winter," he said.

"That depends on the reservoir of coronavirus that exists, it depends on people's behaviour, as well"

There is not a "hard or fast set of measures to reintroduce," he added. "but we'll have to look at the evidence that we get".