(Title Image: Wales Online)
As of 6 pm last Sunday (27th September 2020), Cardiff and Swansea were added to the growing list of local authorities under additional Covid-19 restrictions, as well as Llanelli – the first local lockdown confined to a town (map available here).
From 6 pm yesterday (28th September 2020), the Vale of Glamorgan, Neath Port Talbot and Torfaen were also placed under local lockdown.
On 29th September, the Health Minister announced the first local lockdowns in the north of Wales. Local lockdowns will come into effect for Conwy, Denbighshire, Flintshire and Wrexham from 6 pm on 1st October 2020.
As with other local lockdowns, the restrictions include:
- Nobody should enter or leave the council areas without a reasonable excuse – as during the previous lockdown this means for work (if someone can’t work from home) or to look after a vulnerable person.
- All people aged 11 and over will be required to wear facemasks/face coverings in indoor public areas – although this is already a rule across Wales.
- People will only be allowed to meet each other outdoors; indoor meetings and overnight stays will not be allowed.
- Licenced premises (pubs and clubs) will need to stop selling alcohol at 10 pm.
The introduction of a hyperlocal lockdown for Llanelli was justified by the fact 80% of new Covid-19 cases were concentrated in Llanelli itself rather than Carmarthenshire.
Both the Conservatives and Plaid Cymru have argued for lockdown restrictions to be better targeted in this way and it may be a test-run of a new approach by the government.