Covid: Future lockdowns in Wales not ruled out

A return to lockdown in Wales cannot be ruled once the current restrictions are lifted, the health minister has warned.

Earlier, Prime Minister Boris Johnson said the UK government's plan to move England out of lockdown would be "cautious but irreversible".

But Vaughan Gething said ministers would have a "responsibility to act" if there was an upswing in the virus.

A revised plan out of Wales' lockdown, which began in December, is expected in the next few days.

Welsh cabinet ministers are considering the latest scientific evidence this week before any changes to restrictions are announced on Friday.

But First Minister Mark Drakeford has suggested any initial easing may be limited.

He said at the weekend that "cautious" talks had begun on Wales' tourist industry reopening in time for Easter.

The Welsh Conservatives called for consideration to be given to a reopening of gyms, while Plaid Cymru said easing lockdown should be based on data, rather than dates.

Mr Johnson is due to announce his road map for ending restrictions next Monday.

He told reporters the plan would include target dates for changes "if we possibly can", but warned high rates of infection could lead to delays.

He added: "So we have got to be very prudent and what we want to see is progress that is cautious but irreversible. I think that is what the public, people up and down the country, want to see."

At Monday's press conference, Mr Gething warned there was a "danger" of setting out "absolutes" by talking about whether lockdown lifting was "irreversible".

"If we make cautious steps outwards, then it will still very much feel like a form of lockdown for most people, because we're not going to be returning straight away to what we thought of as our normal lives just over a year ago.

"So yes we don't want to see a return to having to introduce more restrictions, but I wouldn't say we can give a cast iron guarantee that would never happen."

Mr Gething said if a number of restrictions were removed but there was then a "significant upswing" in the virus - such as a new variant - then ministers "would have a responsibility to act".

He added that the majority of people would rather see lockdown rules continue until it is safe to ease them.

Ministers are looking at "small things" to ease out of lockdown, he said, but would not speculate on what measures were being discussed.

Meanwhile, Mr Gething said the next stage of the vaccine programme began on Monday.

He said appointments would be offered to people aged 65 to 69, people aged 16 to 69 with an underlying health condition, younger adults in residential care and unpaid carers.

An expected drop in the supply of vaccines to Wales will not delay anybody's second dose appointment, he added.

The Welsh Government's lockdown easing roadmap has to be "built around data not dates", said the Plaid Cymru leader Adam Price.

"That's absolutely critical, so you can't set an arbitrary date", he said, adding there should be a "phased step by step approach rather than all at once".

Welsh Conservative Senedd leader Andrew RT Davies said it was right to be cautious over easing lockdown restrictions, but he hoped gyms could be reopened "in an organised manner".

"I'd like to see some sort of consideration around gyms being allowed to come forward in an organised manner so that people can look to those avenues to help them with their well-being".