New rules announced for when Wales 'firebreak' ends

2 November 2020, 14:37 | Updated: 2 November 2020, 14:46

Decisions in Wales cannot be driven by those of other nations

Wales's First Minister has announced a new set of rules that will come into effect when the 17-day fire-break ends.

Some of the new measures are still being finalised following the announcement over the weekend about a month-long lockdown in England, which will start on Thursday.

Mark Drakeford outlined the new measures during a Welsh Government press conference on Monday and they will come into force on November 9.

The new national measures include:

- The need to maintain two-metre social distancing and wear face masks in enclosed public places, including on public transport and taxis, will continue.

- The requirement to work from home whenever possible will remain.

- People should only meet with their "bubble" in their own home and only two households will be able to form a "bubble". If one person from either household develops symptoms, everyone should immediately self-isolate.

- Up to 15 people can take part in an organised indoor activity and up to 30 in an organised activity outdoors, providing all social distancing, hand hygiene and other Covid-19 safety measures are followed.

- All premises, such as restaurants, cafes, pubs and gyms, closed during the fire-break will be able to reopen. Following the announcement about the English lockdown, ministers are having ongoing discussions with the hospitality sector about the detailed rules for reopening. This includes about meeting in public indoor spaces.

- As part of keeping risks to a minimum, people should avoid non-essential travel as much as possible. There will be no legal restrictions on travel within Wales for residents, but international travel should be for essential reasons only.

Mr Drakeford said that, in addition, all schools will reopen, churches and places of worship will be able to resume services, local authority services will resume and community centres will be available for small groups to meet safely indoors.

He said: "Each of us has an important part to play in slowing the spread of coronavirus in Wales and saving lives - we cannot do this without your help.

"Everyone has made so many sacrifices this year already. To make sure we do not lose all this hard work, we need to carry on looking after each other and keeping ourselves safe.

"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."

Mr Drakeford told the Welsh Government's press briefing that people in England will not be able to travel into Wales without a reasonable excuse during England's month-long lockdown.

"People who live in Wales but work in England will have a reasonable reason for travelling to work, and people who live in England and work in Wales clearly have a reasonable excuse for coming across the border to work here," Mr Drakeford said.

"But it will be a restricted list of essential purposes, rather than the normal to-ing and fro-ing across the border that you would have seen in less fraught and difficult times."

People in Wales will also not be allowed to travel outside the country without a reasonable excuse when the fire-break ends.

Asked why Wales would not now follow England in imposing a lockdown until December 2, Mr Drakeford said decisions in Wales "cannot and will not" be driven by decisions made by other nations in different circumstances.

"Last week I was being asked a lot of questions about why we had a fire-break at all when in England they were dealing with it by a tiered system, and why hadn't we done that?" Mr Drakeford said.

"Then at the weekend, the Prime Minister changed his mind and now I'm asked why I don't follow the latest twist in the English story, and simply we will not be driven by things that happen in that way.

"The advice we had from our chief medical officer and our scientists was that if we acted early and if we had a 17-day period which was short but sharp, the science told us that would be what we needed to help us to turn back the tide of coronavirus in Wales."

More Latest News

See more More Latest News

Exclusive
Senior Tories including Suella Braverman and Michael Gove have criticised the judge's comments

Senior Tories blast 'out of touch' judge for 'ludicrous attack' on Starmer’s migrant remarks

Breaking
Breaking News

Hamas to return bodies of Bibas family with six more Israelis to walk free

Lisa Smith, 43, was with a female friend when she was killed outside the Three Horseshoes pub in Knockholt, Kent

Man suspected of fatally shooting wife outside pub on Valentine's Day rang friend and said 'she's dead'

Carry On legend Julian Holloway dies aged 80

Carry On legend Julian Holloway dies aged 80 after 'brief illness' as tributes pour in

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov warned 'any appearance by armed forces under some other flag' in Ukraine would be 'completely unacceptable', in a dig at a peace plan floated by Keir Starmer.

Keir Starmer’s Ukraine peacekeeping plan ‘completely unacceptable’, Russia tells US in Saudi Arabia talks

Rita Lambourne, 58, was “fatally wounded” at her home in Bayencourt South, Bexhill

Man charged with axe murder of woman in own home

Lydia Mugambe is accused of taking 'advantage of her status'

UN judge ‘trafficked woman to UK to be her slave'

Anonymous posters have appeared in Hampstead Heath, a park in north London, calling for gay men to stop using the park for sex.

'Take back Hampstead Heath', dog walkers urged as posters appear calling for men to stop using park for sex

Gavin Nicholls was tackled to the ground by a plain-clothed officer outside the Co-op in Barnet

Moment serial shoplifter is tackled off e-scooter by police as he flees store in north London

The plane, which was carrying 80 people, slid down onto the icy runway at Toronto Pearson International Airport before bursting into flames

Horrifying video shows moment Delta plane crashes on tarmac and bursts into flames at Toronto airport

Healey's comments came following Russia-US Peake talks in Saudi Arabia.

UK facing 'new era of threat' from Russia, Defence Secretary says as he unveils ‘biggest military shake up in 50 years’

Passengers escape Flipped over Delta plane after it crashed while landing in Toronto

'We were hanging upside down like bats': Survivors reveal fear and chaos inside flipped over Delta plane

England's top judge slams Starmer and Badenoch over Gaza family immigration comments

'Judges aren't free from criticism': Backlash after England's top judge attacks Starmer's migrant remarks

Craig and Lindsay Foreman

British couple on round-the-world motorbike adventure charged with espionage by Iranian authorities

An assistant referee has been charged with child sexual offences.

Assistant referee for FA Cup and football league games charged with child sexual offence

Corinna Schumacher, right, has broken her silence on the case involving a plot to reveal Formula One star Michael Schumacher's health secrets.

Michael Schumacher's wife breaks silence after three men guilty of blackmail plot to reveal F1 legend's health secrets