Covid: Wales 'must act now' insists health minister

Wales "could not suppress coronavirus" after its firebreak lockdown and must act now, Health Minister Vaughan Gething has insisted.

It comes as new national restrictions come into force in Wales later to try and curb the spread of Covid-19.

New rules include a ban on pubs, restaurants and cafes serving alcohol on the premises.

They come in to force at 18:00 GMT and will be reviewed on 17 December, ahead of UK-wide rules over Christmas.

The Welsh Government faced a backlash for the new rules from business owners and other political parties.

Plaid Cymru said hospitality was "paying the price" for a lack of stricter measures after the firebreak lockdown ended on 9 November.

The Conservative leader in the Senedd, Paul Davies, said the national approach was unfair on areas with low Covid rates.

But speaking on Friday, Mr Gething said without action, more people would die.

"This is really about the fact we couldn't suppress coronavirus after the firebreak, and we then have a responsibility as a government," Mr Gething told BBC Breakfast.

"We either act, and act in way we know causes harm, or we don't act in this way and we accept much greater harm and much great loss of life that could be avoided."

The health minister said coronavirus cases went down during the 17-day firebreak lockdown in October and November but cases have now "gone up and up".

The case rate is currently 237.9 case per 100,000 in Wales, higher than before the firebreak.

Meanwhile, the latest infection survey from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) suggests infections have stopped falling in Wales.

The ONS takes throat and nose swab tests from more than 19,500 people at random in Wales over six weeks.

From the results, it can estimate that 18,100 people in Wales had Covid-19 in the week to 28 November, 1,700 more than the week before.

This is one in 170 people or 0.60% of the population.

The ONS said "our modelling suggests, in the most recent week, the percentage of those testing positive is no longer decreasing in Wales".

Mr Gething added: "I don't enjoy these measures having to be introduced, but if we don't we can be confident - terribly confident, I'm afraid - that cases would rise and more of our people would not be here."

The Welsh Government has said the decision to stop bars and pubs serving alcohol was backed by evidence it has published from its scientific advisors, and supported by evidence from the UK advisory groups Sage.

Simon Pickard, owner of Silver Mountain Experience in Aberystwyth, Ceredigion, said the situation was "ongoing and difficult", having closed a large number of the activities they offer, including the over and underground tours, and would now have to move their Christmas event outside

He said he was still unsure what the restrictions would be on 17 December and had incurred costs for outdoor equipment at a time when income was low.

"We lost all our business in the October half-term from the firebreak lockdown, which was a real first blow. We were promised everything would open up for Christmas and now we're in the same situation."

He called the rules disproportionate and said they were not reflective of the situation in Wales.

"We understand the health issues as everyone does but we feel that the restrictions have not been targeted to the right areas and not based on any real science. It has felt like a knee-jerk reaction."

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