Covid: Firebreak lockdown ends as new restrictions begin
The "short, sharp" lockdown saw people told to stay home, an end to extended households for most, and pubs, restaurants, hotels, gyms, hairdressers and non-essential shops closed.
From Monday people
can travel anywhere within Wales and two households can again form a bubble.Businesses that shut during the firebreak can now reopen.
First Minister Mark Drakeford urged people to reduce the number of people they see and the time spent with them to reduce the risk of catching or spreading the virus.
"We cannot go back to the way we were living our lives and throw away all that hard work," he said.
"Coronavirus is a highly infectious virus - it thrives on contact between people.
"To keep each other safe we need to reduce the number of people we have contact with and the amount of time we spend with them."
Wales' lockdown - which the Welsh Government said would help prevent the health service in Wales becoming "overwhelmed" - ends just a few days after England's four-week lockdown started.
Wales has seen almost 7,000 coronavirus cases in the last seven days and the death toll is now more than 2,000 people since the pandemic began.
The number of patients in Welsh hospitals with coronavirus is now the highest since the height of the pandemic in April - and areas like Merthyr Tydfil, Rhondda Cynon Taf and Blaenau Gwent have some of the worst Covid-19 infection rates in the UK.
But Wales' Health Minister Vaughan Gething said on Sunday the country was starting to see a plateauing in the case rate.
He added: "It's still at a high rate which means that there's still a reservoir of coronavirus within our communities."
'On our guard'
Ceredig Davies is a Ceredigion county councillor and runs Aberystwyth gift shop Mona Lisa.
When asked how he felt about people from parts of Wales with higher Covid case rates being able to visit Ceredigion, which has one of the lowest case rates in Wales, he said: "To be honest, that is a worry.
"I look at places like the south Wales Valleys where they've got a high Covid rate and with all due respect I hope they stay there.
"We want to keep this a low Covid area."
He added: "Just because the two-week lockdown is over we shouldn't be complacent, we should be on our guard and follow restrictions."
Mr Davies said concerns over another lockdown before Christmas made it hard to know how much stock to order for his shop.
He also felt the Welsh Government's new restrictions were complicated which meant "some people just don't follow them".
'House hopping'
People in Caerphilly county were the first in Wales to be put into a "local lockdown" after a surge of coronavirus cases - but for the first time since having stricter rules imposed on 8 September, all residents are now able to leave the county
Rhondda Cynon Taf (RCT) was the second local authority area to be put under tighter Covid restrictions a week later - but now Wales has scrapped local rules for a "simpler" nationwide approach.
Kate Wingfield, a mobile hairdresser from Llanharan in RCT who will be visiting clients in their homes from Monday said: "You've got to be super careful - I'm entering places that family members aren't allowed to enter.
"I am nervous about it but I wear a visor and a mask and use hand sanitiser.
"It's more that I'm crossing houses that concerns me... I'm house hopping basically."
She said despite being able to leave her county again she would restrict herself to Rhondda Cynon Taf and three or four clients a day to reduce the risk.
From a personal perspective she said she was happy to be able to visit the coast again: "I suffer with anxiety and going to the beach is where I feel so relaxed, it's a great outlet and that's a massive benefit."
What are the new Wales-wide regulations?
The new regulations made by the Welsh ministers cover everything from seeing friends and family to travel and visiting pubs and restaurants.
They impose limits on meeting other people, prohibit people from entering or leaving Wales without a reasonable excuse, impose requirements on people who have tested positive for coronavirus, and contain rules for public-facing business and services.
Two families can form a bubble and meet up in each other's homes, as happened prior to the firebreak lockdown.
Up to 15 people can take part in activities indoors and up to 30 outdoors - providing social distancing, hand hygiene and other Covid safety measures are followed.
Groups of four people from different households can meet indoors at pubs, cafes and restaurants - again, providing social distancing, hand hygiene and other Covid safety measures are followed.
People from Wales can again holiday within Wales but international travel should be for essential reasons only so foreign holidays are still not allowed.
People will still be allowed to make visits to another person's home in Wales if they are concerned about their mental well-being, Mr Drakeford said.
Opposition parties have suggested high case rate areas should have stricter local rules and mass testing.
The Welsh Conservatives want "local measures" to help slow down Covid-19 cases in communities to avoid "such draconian measures as a firebreak lockdown or just a straight lockdown".
Plaid Cymru want a "faster and more robust" testing strategy and called for "universal testing" in communities where case rates are high, like what is being trialled in Liverpool.
November 09, 2020 at 01:17PM
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-54843624
Labels: BBC News
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