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As of yesterday (14th September 2020), new measures came into effect in Wales as part of efforts to dampen an emerging second wave of Covid-19 in the UK.
The new measures include:
- All people over the age of 11 are required to wear a facemask/face-covering in indoor public places, including shops, unless they have a medical exemption. Facemasks are already compulsory on public transport but, for the moment, will not be required in pubs and restaurants.
- A maximum of six people from extended households (aged over 11) will be allowed to meet indoors, including pubs and restaurants. Under-11s won’t be counted as part of this “Rule of Six”.
- People are encouraged to continue to work from home unless they’re unable to do so.
- New powers will be given to local authorities to close premises and shut events on public health grounds after news emerged in recent weeks of some establishments flouting public health rules.
There are stricter restrictions in place in Caerphilly county, with concerns that Newport, Rhondda Cynon Taf and Merthyr Tydfil may be on the brink of a local lockdown too. Several local authorities have now banned indoor visits to care homes.
Although for the moment the transmission rate (R-number) in Wales as a whole is lower than England, the First Minister said: “Wales is not immune to the spread of coronavirus elsewhere in the UK, and as difficulties deepen elsewhere, we must expect that to have an impact here, too.”
