Covid: Children can leave Wales' lockdown areas for sport

Children will be allowed to leave areas under lockdown in order to play sport, following an outcry over coronavirus regulations.

Currently, 15 counties in Wales are in lockdown, meaning no-one can enter or leave without a reasonable excuse.

But almost 10,000 people signed a petition calling for rules to change, saying it was damaging to children's mental and physical health.

Wales' First Minister Mark Drakeford said the regulations would be amended.

Under coronavirus rules, amateur sports are not currently classed as a "reasonable excuse" to travel in or out of an area subjected to local lockdown.

But parents have spoken of their concerns about their children's wellbeing, with many unable to meet their team mates and friends for training due to it being in a different county.

Speaking at the Welsh Government's coronavirus briefing on Friday, Mr Drakeford said he "intended" for the regulations to be amended to "allow children to take part in organised sporting activities if these take place outside their county boundaries".

Being made a "reasonable excuse" means children will be able to leave their home county, even if it is subject to local lockdown rules, and travel to another area for sports.

Those living in areas not subject to lockdown restrictions would also be permitted to enter locked down areas to play sport.

It is not yet clear what age range the exemption will apply to, or if parents will have to stay in their cars after dropping children off for training.

The Welsh Government said details would be published as soon as possible.

Wendy Brady from Monmouthshire, who started the petition, said she was "delighted" following the change to the rule.

Her daughter Anya was unable to train with athletics club Newport Harriers as they could not travel to the training ground while the city was in lockdown.

"It's more than I could have wished for. It just goes to show the strength of feeling and just how important sport is in people's lives.

"Anya will be absolutely delighted. She'll be back training with her teammates and she'll be delighted. "

Plaid Cymru health spokesman Rhun ap Iorwerth welcomed the change in the rules, saying it was important for children's "mental health and well-being".

"Clarity would be useful on whether that also includes other activities other than sport," he said.

In Wales, the infection rate stands at 95.1 cases per 100,000 people over the past seven days, with 2,999 people testing positive in the last week.

Mr Drakeford said restrictions, which affect about 2.3 million people and apply to 15 out of 22 counties in Wales, would not yet be eased.

"The local restrictions we have had to introduce have not yet had a chance to make a difference in many parts of Wales," he said.

In Caerphilly, the first part of Wales' placed in local lockdown, people have already been told restrictions will be in place for at least another week after an increase in cases.

He also warned that cases in Flintshire and Denbighshire were high, with the case rate now well above 100 cases per 100,000 of the population.

The first minister said he was ready to use his powers to stop people travelling to Wales from high incidence areas in England if the UK government did not announce travel restrictions on Monday.

Prime Minister Boris Johnson previously refused to ban people in parts of England, where cases are high, from travelling to Wales for holidays.

"[If on Monday] we're not confident the UK government is doing the right thing... then we will have to rely on our own powers, which we do have and will use."Mr Drakeford said people crossing the border was not an issue, but people travelling from high case areas to low case areas was an issue "whether they're in England or Scotland or Wales".

The health minister has already warned that pubs and bars could be closed if cases continued to rise which comes after final orders were called in parts of Scotland.

Mr Drakeford said he had spoken to the Chief Constable of Gwent Police and rising cases in the area were not linked to pubs and bars.

"We will take action, where the evidence tells us that is the problem", he said, adding the measures would be similar to those in Scotland, and those due to come in over the border in England.

Mr Drakeford said unless measures were taken, the "position would get worse, not better", and "over the winter, we will all be asked to make further sacrifices".

He added: "I know that it is against this difficult background, that people are worried and anxious about what the next few months hold.

"It's really difficult and frustrating to find ourselves back in the position we faced earlier in the year.

"But we do know too, and I know you know to, that unless we take these actions now, the position will get worse, not better."

Mr Drakeford responded to US president Donald Trump, who retweeted criticism of plans for "rolling lockdowns" in Wales over the winter.

Fox News host Laura Ingraham tweeted it would be America's future "under Biden", with a link to a news story reporting comments from senior Welsh doctor Frank Atherton.

Mr Drakeford said many Americans would be "absolutely delighted" if they had the levels of Covid-19 Wales had, the NHS and "the sort of government that conducts business on behalf of their population in the orderly and careful way that we do on behalf of the Welsh population".

"I think many people will have read that tweet and be thinking to themselves, 'if only that could be true'."