Covid passes may be used to keep pubs open at Christmas

Covid passes may be used over Christmas in order to keep pubs and restaurants open, the Welsh government has said.

But First Minister Mark Drakeford said no decision would be made on introducing the pass to the hospitality sector until early December.

Mr Drakeford made the comments as he unveiled the latest 21-day review of Covid regulations.

He said there would be no rule changes in the next three weeks, following the latest review on Thursday.

Some hospitality businesses said they needed "time to react" if Covid passes were going to be introduced and not a "snap decision".

Mr Drakeford said the government would be "keeping the option of extending the use of the Covid pass" to the hospitality sector, if case rates climbed and pandemic pressures on the NHS increased.

"We will continue to monitor the public health situation and we will work with the hospitality sector as we prepare for Christmas," he added.

The Conservatives said the passes were coercive, ineffective and anti-business, and demanded conditions for their removal.

Covid passes are used to demonstrate if someone has been fully vaccinated or has tested negative in the past 48 hours.

They are already required for cinemas, theatres, nightclubs and large events.

Wales' Heath Minister Eluned Morgan told BBC Radio Wales Breakfast it's too early to say if Christmas will be "normal".

"The good news is that for this period we will not be introducing the Covid passes because the people of Wales have responded positively, they have really been respectful of the protection measures we have put in place.

"The last thing any of us want is to see the kind of crash-out Christmas that we saw last year and so we are obviously going to be keeping an eye on the situation."

Emma Downey, the co-owner of Tides Kitchen and Wine Bar in Newport, Pembrokeshire, said she would be "loathed to implement them" in her business.

"In my opinion, Covid passports have no place in our industry or in society in general," she said.

"They have no place and it is already difficult with this uncertainty."

She said First Minister Mark Drakeford was bringing "never-ending doom and gloom" to the industry.

"We were looking forward to a more normal Christmas, which is how Mark Drakeford described it a few weeks ago, and now we are going into yet more uncertainty and it's just not good enough," she said.

"We are constantly taking the brunt of all these regulations... it's just too much for us now.

"I want to see the scientific evidence that Covid passes make any difference to the Covid cases because I don't think there is any out there."

Simon Buckley, chairman of the Brewers of Wales, said the industry needed "optimism".

"We need the determination that we are going to be able to trade over Christmas and we will be able to do so unfettered and without undue influence," he said.

He claimed Covid passports had already had an adverse effect on nightclubs.

"We are in a position where the industry is on its knees and we are facing staff shortages, not caused by Brexit or anything else but by this constant fear," he said.

Ian Williams, the owner of Oxwich Bay Hotel on Gower, said "what we don't want is what happened last year where something comes out of the bag and we have five hours to react".

"The worst-case scenario for us is we would have to introduce a way of checking the Covid passes, whether that is something where people are able to go online like they did previously, I don't know, but I would have to manage it as we were informed," he said.

"The last thing we want is where it got to last year, when it went on and on, and then doing a snap decision, a decision that was made and pulled the rug from under us.

"If it keeps us open, the business going and customers who pre-booked are able to come, then fantastic, that's what we all want."

Wales remains at alert level zero so all businesses can stay open.

Although Covid cases continue to rise in Wales, they are going up at a slower rate.

The seven-day rolling case rate per 100,000 people has risen again to 504.9, compared to 495.4 reported last week.

Gwynedd now has the highest case rate in Wales at 694.4, followed by the Vale of Glamorgan on 685.7 and Monmouthshire on 569.8.

On Thursday, Public Health Wales reported 20 further deaths with Covid and 2,576 new cases.

In the seven days to the 16 November, an average 6.8 people a day died with Covid in Wales.

Mr Drakeford added that pandemic "hasn't gone away", with many countries in Europe introducing tougher restrictions.

The Welsh government will have another review on 10 December.

Russell George, Welsh Conservative health spokesman, said: "Vaccine passports are bad law: there is no evidence they work, whether that be limiting the spread of the virus or increasing uptake of the vaccine, and conditions for their withdrawal should be set out by the Labour government."