Covid in Wales: Restrictions could return if Welsh case rates do not fall

Covid restrictions scrapped last summer could return in Wales if cases do not fall in the next three weeks, First Minister Mark Drakeford has warned.

New measures are being brought in to tackle Wales' high Covid rates - the worst in the UK.

But if infections climb Mr Drakeford said he "will have no choice" but to look at going further.

Covid passes will be extended to cinemas, theatres and concert halls from 15 November as part of the plans.

The passes show whether someone has been fully vaccinated, or whether they have had a negative lateral flow test in the past 48 hours.

Obtained online, they are already required for nightclubs and many large events.

Self-isolation guidance for people who are fully vaccinated will also change.

Currently they are not required to isolate, but the government will now ask people to do so if someone in their household has symptoms or tests positive, until they get a negative PCR test.

The advice will also apply to children and young people aged five to 17.

Wales is currently at alert level zero after most of the remaining lockdown rules were lifted in August.

Unlike England, ministers have kept laws requiring people to wear masks in pubs, restaurants and other indoor public places, and still ask people to work from home.

Ministers have repeatedly said they do not expect to have to return to lockdown-style restrictions, but have not ruled it out and have drawn up a plan - called Covid Urgent - for doing so if pressure on the NHS becomes unsustainable.

It would mean Wales returning to higher alert level restrictions, with alert level 1 closing nightclubs and restricting how many can meet indoors, to a stay-at-home lockdown at alert level 4.

If implemented it would mean the Welsh government going further than Plan B in England - which Tory ministers have been under pressure to implement but much of which is already in place in Wales.

Mark Drakeford will confirm his plans at a press conference on Friday.

He said: "Over the past three weeks, coronavirus cases have risen sharply to the highest rates we have seen since the pandemic began and more people are falling so seriously ill that they need hospital treatment.

"All this means that the pandemic is far from over. We need to take more action now to strengthen the measures we have in place at alert level zero to prevent coronavirus spreading even further and more people falling seriously ill.

"We hope this action will help to turn the tide of this delta.

"None of us wants to see a return to restrictions but if rates continue to rise, the cabinet will have no choice but to consider raising the alert level at the next review."

The next review is due in three weeks.

School staff and secondary school students are also being asked to take twice-weekly lateral flow tests, and headteachers will be given extra support to quickly put measures in place in schools if case rates are high locally.

In recent weeks the coronavirus case rate in Wales has been higher than at any point since the pandemic began.

Recent figures show the Welsh Covid rate standing at 685.5 per 100,000 over seven days to last Saturday, according to the UK government dashboard.

It has fallen from around 742.4 on 20 October, but it remains the highest in the UK.

Recent equivalent figures for England, Scotland and Northern Ireland stand at 480.5, 324.4 and 467.4 respectively.

The Welsh government added that Economy Minister Vaughan Gething had asked retailers on Wednesday "to do everything they can to raise awareness of the legal requirements to wear a face covering in shops".