Covid: England's 21 June lockdown plan not sensible, says Welsh minister

Original plans to scrap Covid lockdown rules in England on 21 June were never considered sensible by the Welsh government, a Labour minister has said.

Boris Johnson has confirmed the final stage of lockdown easing in England will be delayed until 19 July.

Wales' Economy Minister Vaughan Gething said it had not been right to set out such a commitment when the pandemic caused "unpleasant surprises".

A decision on whether restriction easing in Wales is expected on Friday.

The UK's prime minister told a briefing on Monday that the pause on lifting all restrictions in England will be reviewed after two weeks.

But Mr Johnson said he was "confident" the delay would not need to be longer than four weeks.

The delay to England's so-called "freedom day" followed a rise in Covid cases linked to the Delta variant, originally identified in India.

Scientists advising the UK government have warned there could be a "significant resurgence" in people needing hospital treatment for Covid-19, if stage four of easing the lockdown in England went ahead on 21 June.

Wales Economy Minister Mr Gething said: "We have always said that trying to set out commitments to an irreversible road to freedom… when we know that the pandemic has caused different and unpleasant surprises at various points, was not something that we thought was sensible."

He added that the Welsh government had not "taken a flyer" on naming dates for lockdown easing and as a result had not had "to do a number of U-turns".

Ministers in Wales are expected to announce their own decision this Friday about whether to ease restrictions further, although it is not as comprehensive as what had been planned across the border.

The Welsh government is looking at whether to allow some people to meet indoors outside of their extended bubbles, a move that had been delayed amid growing concerns over the Delta variant.

Mr Gething told a press conference that there were 315 cases of the variant in Wales, with 42,000 cases identified across England and Scotland.

"Despite our extensive efforts to minimise the spread, we expect to see more", Mr Gething said.

The variant is now the most common strain among new Covid-19 cases.

Mr Gething said the Welsh Government would put further funding in place for businesses "materially affected" by the phased move to alert level one.

Eligible businesses such as indoor attractions and wedding venues will be entitled to an additional payment of between £875 and £5,000 depending on their "size and circumstances", he said.

Meanwhile the minister urged Welsh football fans to "do the right thing" when watching Euro 2020 games in pubs and clubs, advising them to follow the "necessary rules" on social distancing.

"We don't want to be in an unfortunate position where we have to re-regulate what's going on in those businesses", he said.