Covid: Wales' lockdown supermarket rules to be 'clarified'

A ban on supermarkets selling "non-essential" items during Wales' lockdown will be reviewed for "clarity" on Monday, Wales' health minister says.

Pressure has mounted on the Welsh Government to reverse the decision to prohibit supermarkets from selling items such as clothes and microwaves.

More than 55,000 people have signed the largest-ever Senedd petition.

The Welsh Conservatives accused the Labour-led government of "incompetence and mixed messaging".

On Saturday First Minister Drakeford said the Welsh Government would review "how the weekend had gone" to ensure "common sense is applied".

Supermarkets have been told they can only sell "essential" items and must close parts of their stores which sell products such as clothes, shoes, toys and bedding during Wales' 17-day "firebreak lockdown".

Health Minister Vaughan Gething told The Andrew Marr Show the government would review the "understanding, clarity and policy" because it had been applied differently across the country.

Lee Waters, Wales' deputy minister for economy and transport, told BBC Radio Wales' Sunday Supplement "supermarkets have discretion" over what they can sell.

He said: "I've been getting lots of people on social media getting in touch with me saying 'I can't buy a microwave for my newborn baby to heat up their milk' - well in those circumstances supermarkets are able to make a judgement, whether they sell you that or not."

The Welsh Government's Counsel General Jeremy Miles subsequently told BBC Politics Wales the guidance allowed "a bit more flexibility than is being used" and "there's an element of local discretion to solve some of those problems".

However the head of the Welsh Retail Consortium Sara Jones told BBC Wales: "It has not been communicated to us that discretion can be used but we'd very much welcome that approach and would request that it is updated in the guidance that was published on Friday afternoon to formally reflect that."

Welsh Conservative health spokesperson and member of the Senedd (MS) Andrew RT Davies said: "Regrettably, incompetence and mixed messaging from the Welsh Labour Government only continues this morning.

"Last night the First Minister rightly announced a 'review' into his draconian supermarket shopping ban, yet within 12 hours his colleagues have undermined it by confirming the ban will stay in place."

One parent has described how she was unable to buy clothes on Saturday for her child who had been admitted to hospital.

Chelsea Jones said her daughter's pyjamas were "soaked in blood", but she was not allowed to buy new ones from a supermarket "five minutes" from the hospital in Cardiff.

Instead, she was forced to make a 40-mile round trip home to collect replacements.

"I was driving around crying in a panic trying to find somewhere that I am able to pick up some essentials for my child," she said.

"I have never felt so angry, frustrated or upset, ever. You just never know when a 'non essential item' will become 'essential' to you.

"I am not one to undermine the seriousness of Covid and always try my best to follow the rules, but these rules need to change."

A 28-year-old man from Anglesey has been charged with criminal damage and breaching coronavirus regulations in a supermarket.

Video footage showed a man pulling down plastic sheeting which was covering non-essential goods at a Tesco store in Bangor, Gwynedd.

Gwilym Owen has also been charged with public order offences.

Jodi Merry, from Rhondda Cynon Taf, said the ban had come at an awkward time as she was planning to buy new clothes for her eight-year-old son after she gets paid next week.

"It's just an inconvenience," she said.

"I know it's only two weeks but he doesn't have any winter pyjamas and with pay day in a few days I would have got some...

"Clothing, shoes and even bedding are definitely essentials."

The move has led to confusion over what supermarkets can and cannot sell.

On Saturday, the Welsh Government tweeted to say: "The purpose of selling essential items only during firebreak is to discourage spending more time than necessary in shops and to be fair to retailers who have to close."

It continued: "We need to do everything we can to minimise the time we spend outside our homes. This will help save lives and protect the NHS."

Wales' firebreak lockdown is in place until 9 November.

It came as the UK recorded 174 more deaths and 23,012 new confirmed cases on Saturday.

The Welsh Government added it had made a further £300m available to support businesses affected.

On Saturday, the Welsh Conservative leader Paul Davies called for the Senedd/Welsh Parliament to be recalled "virtually" for an urgent debate on the matter.

"People are concerned at being prevented from buying products such as books, bins, baby clothes in local shops and this is forcing them to purchase online or to make extra journeys to multiple shops searching for them."

"This is absolute madness by the Welsh Government, preventing people from buying the products which they want to buy," he said.

"What we want to see is the Welsh Government scrapping this measure."

The presiding officer has been approached for comment.

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