Covid: Not much room for lockdown changes, Wales' first minister warns

Wales is likely to remain in lockdown for the rest of January as the first minister said he does not "see much headroom for change".

Ministers are to review restrictions ahead of an announcement on Friday.

But Mark Drakeford said it was "very hard to see where the room for manoeuvre is at the moment" with the NHS "under huge pressure".

Without further changes, restrictions could be kept until the next three-week review at the end of January.

Mr Drakeford also said the Welsh Government was unlikely to tighten restrictions despite the emergence of a new more contagious variant of the virus.

He said there could be some tweaks "at the margins" but no wholesale changes because "it's difficult to see what more could be done".

The government introduced a new four-level system of Covid-19 restrictions on 20 December with people told to stay home and avoid all but essential travel.

A study has found the new variant of Covid-19 to be "hugely" more transmissible than the virus's previous version.

The Imperial College study suggests transmission of the new variant tripled during England's November lockdown while the previous version was reduced by a third.

But Mr Drakeford does not believe the Welsh Government needs to change the system of restrictions it introduced before details of the new variant emerged.

"We'll keep our plans under review but level four restrictions in Wales are very strict indeed and it's difficult to see what more could be done to them," he said.

"If they need to be tweaked at the margins to take account of the new variation that's what the cabinet here will consider."

He has dismissed calls by teaching unions to suspend the phased return of face-to-face teaching.

The government's cabinet will meet on Wednesday to review the current restrictions ahead of an announcement by the first minister on Friday.

But when asked whether he expected any changes, Mr Drakeford said: "It's very hard to see where the room for manoeuvre is at the moment.

"Our health service remains under huge pressure and the coming weeks will be very difficult indeed with winter pressures on the one hand and growing numbers of people suffering with coronavirus in our hospitals on the other.

"We'll review it, as we said we would, but when I look at the figures I don't see much headroom for change."

The Welsh Conservatives have not criticised the decision to remain in lockdown, but have called for greater scrutiny.

Suzy Davies, Member of the Senedd for South Wales West, said questions would remain "about how legitimate the decisions of the Welsh Government are" until MSs had the opportunity to question them in the Welsh Parliament.

Plaid Cymru leader Adam Price said the announcement was unsurprising given the pressures on the NHS, but called on the Welsh Government to ensure a "rapid rollout" of the Covid vaccine.

Mr Price also called for financial support for people forced to self-isolate and businesses "during the hardest winter of our time".

After Friday's decision, the next three-week review announcement is not expected until 29 January.

A further 56 people have died after contracting coronavirus in Wales, along with 4,011 new cases, according to data published by Public Health Wales on Sunday.