Covid: Number of wedding guests to depend on venue size

Rules covering wedding and civil partnerships receptions and wakes in Wales are to change from Monday.

First Minister Mark Drakeford said there would no longer be limits on numbers at weddings.

Following a risk assessment by venues, numbers will be based on how many can be "safely accommodated," he said.

However, Mr Drakeford also announced a four-week pause to further lifting of lockdown rules amid concerns over the Delta variant.

"We are once again facing a serious public health situation," he said.

At a briefing on Friday, Mr Drakeford also warned a third wave of coronavirus has already started to spread widely across Wales.

Currently, as many people as a venue can accommodate safely can attend wedding ceremonies, but only 30 people can attend indoor wedding receptions.

There are other rules, such as the first dance must only involve the bride and groom.

Mr Drakeford said changes meant venues would move away from having a notional number, adding: "If those can safely accommodate over 100 people, that's what they'll do."

He added it would mean "at quite a number of venues across Wales, the number able to be at a wedding will be higher than it is now".

Among the "small technical amendments" being made to the lockdown rules are:

Lockdown rules in Wales will be reviewed again on 15 July.

Lewys Williams and Ms Harris were supposed to get married in August of last year but have had to reschedule twice.

On one occasion this was because their venue was being turned into a mass vaccination centre.

In a letter, also signed by brides-to-be other than Ms Harris and some wedding suppliers, the couple ask Mr Drakeford for a roadmap for weddings.

And they have asked if lateral flow tests could be given to guests before they arrive.

"We need clarity," Ms Harris said.

"We need a roadmap and we need to consider why on earth we are allowing sporting events of up to 10,000 people to go ahead, when we can't have our closest family and friends at our wedding.

"The level of worry, anxiety, mental health worries that this has caused.

"It sounds dramatic. But it really is every minute of every day, there some kind of worry going around my head at the moment.

"We don't know whether we go ahead and pay these suppliers, who within the next few weeks or so, are due the best part of six grand from us."

Crug Gas Country House, near St David's in Pembrokeshire, usually it hosts about 60 weddings a year - but because of the Covid lockdown rules, there have been three this year so far.

"At weddings here it's table service-only and only the bride and groom are allowed to dance - it's really sad," Crug Glas' wedding coordinator Sandra Vaughan told BBC Radio Cymru.

"It's quite hard to see people out enjoying the football in the pubs, but nobody can come here to have a nice wedding. It's not the same product we sold to them."

Welsh government officials are talking to councils about the possibility of fan zones for Wales' remaining Euro 2020 games, Mr Drakeford said.

Hundreds gathered at one indoor venue near Cardiff for Wales' 2-0 victory over Turkey, with hopes larger outdoor facilities will be opened.

However, Mr Drakeford said conversations were taking place with experts and police about the viability of accommodating the "large numbers of people" fan zones would attract.

The announcement comes as Wales' overall case rate has continued to climb since late May.

There are close to 500 cases of the Delta variant, which originated in India, accounting for four out of every five new cases in Wales, latest figures show, with Mr Drakeford saying it is "seeded in every part of Wales".

He believes it could be a fortnight before the impact of this is seen in hospital admissions and people falling ill.

"Across the border in Scotland and England, they are about two weeks ahead of us on all of this," he added.

"We are already seeing hospital numbers rising, particularly amongst people in their forties and fifties.

"That's why we will use the next four weeks to accelerate or vaccination programme."

More than 500,000 doses of the Covid vaccine will be distributed across Wales in a bid to speed up the number of people receiving second jabs. So far 1,454,066 people have been fully vaccinated.

Mr Drakeford said restrictions could be eased following the four-week pause even if there is not conclusive evidence that vaccinations have broken the link between rising infections and hospital admissions.

He told the PA news agency: "I agree that you cannot, in the end, delay everything in the search for perfection in terms of data.

"But what we are quite clearly told by our scientific advisers as well as others is that this four weeks will allow us to get a sufficiently good handle on the extent to which a relationship between falling ill and needing hospitalisation has been modified by the vaccine.

"Then we will make a calculation about how much headroom we have, as we always do, to take further steps."

Responding to the announcement, Plaid Cymru deputy leader Rhun ap Iorwerth said: "Many in hospitality are still feeling the pinch from the unexplained gap in funding in April of this year."

He said, while clarity on wedding venues would be welcome, he called on the Welsh government to "provide leadership and support at a time when many have genuine fears for the future".

Welsh Conservatives Senedd leader Andrew RT Davies wants the move to be scrutinised in the Welsh Parliament.

He added: "In light of the ongoing restrictions, Welsh businesses will require more financial support and I hope the first minister makes clear what additional funding his government will provide to protect Welsh jobs."