(Title Image: BBC Wales)
Yesterday, the First Minister announced new national-level measures to address the second wave of Covid-19.
“This is a virus which thrives on human contact. Social contact is important to all of us but to keep ourselves and our loved ones safe, we need to think carefully about all our meetings and contacts with other people and try and reduce them to reduce our risk of infection.
“Rather than us asking what we can or can’t do, we need to ask ourselves what should we be doing to keep our families safe.
“Government rules and regulations are here to help. But the real strength we have is in the choices we make and the actions we take together.”
– First Minister, Mark Drakeford (Lab, Cardiff West)
A two-week “firebreak” lockdown for Wales will be lifted on Monday November 9th 2020 along with several local lockdowns introduced during September and October.
This will be replaced by a new series of all-Wales restrictions, including:
- Social distancing requirements – as well as the requirement to wear face coverings in indoor public spaces and on public transport and taxis – will remain in effect.
- People will still be encouraged to work from home wherever possible.
- Schools will fully reopen as planned on November 9th; churches and places of worship can also resume services (presumably subject to the usual public health rules).
- All businesses which had to close during the “firebreak” (hospitality businesses, libraries, gyms) will be allowed to reopen. It was later confirmed that groups of up to 4 people will be able to meet in pubs, restaurants etc. on a pre-booked, table service-only basis in time-limited slots. Alcohol sales will end at 10 pm.
- Households will be able to form a “bubble” with one other household and can meet in their own home; if one person in this “bubble” develops symptoms, the entire bubble will need to self-isolate.
- Up to 15 people can take part in an organised activity indoors and up to 30 people in an organised activity outdoors providing that social distancing and hygiene requirements are observed.
- There will be no restrictions on travelling within Wales, but people should only travel if necessary and should avoid all non-essential travel internationally, as well as non-essential travel to England until December 2nd 2020 (when the recently-announced English lockdown ends).
In response to the announcement, Plaid Cymru called for a two-week “buffer period” to ensure the transmission rate is reduced (current figures suggest the firebreak has merely kept infection levels at a stable rate rather than reducing them). They suggested that a buffer period could include measures such as closing hospitality businesses as early as 6 pm, a mix of home-learning and in-person learning for schools and the expansion of Welsh track and trace programmes.
