Covid: Wales' restrictions could return to save Christmas

Scrapped Covid rules could be brought back to allow Wales to have a "normal" Christmas, First Minister Mark Drakeford has warned.

New measures are already being brought in to tackle Wales' high Covid rates - the worst in the UK.

Covid passes will be extended to cinemas, theatres and concert halls from 15 November as part of the plans.

Pubs, restaurants and cafes might also require passes if infections climb, amid a "wider repertoire of actions".

The passes show whether someone has been fully vaccinated or whether they have had a negative lateral flow test in the past 48 hours.

Obtained online, they are already required for nightclubs and many large events.

At Friday's coronavirus briefing, Mr Drakeford said about 2,000 cases of a new and possibly more transmissible form of the Delta variant had been identified in Wales.

The infection rate in Wales is currently the highest it has ever been, and the highest in the UK.

"This is largely being driven by very high levels of infections in younger people and among family members and close contacts at home," he said.

"Mistakes at a private laboratory in England, which resulted in thousands of people wrongly being told their tests were negative, may have further fuelled the growth in cases in south-east Wales, where rates are highest."

He added: "All this means the pandemic is far from over."

The extension of the Covid pass scheme could be subject to a vote in the Senedd before it is implemented.

Self-isolation guidance for people who are fully vaccinated will also change.

The government will now ask people to self-isolate if someone in their household has symptoms or tests positive, until they get a negative PCR test. The advice will also apply to those aged five to 17.

There are no plans to ban crowds from sports fixtures, as seen at the height of the pandemic.

Mr Drakeford said the Covid pass system had already been "well-managed and well-observed" at football matches in Wales.

Wales play New Zealand at Cardiff's Principality Stadium on Saturday in the largest mass event since crowds were allowed back through the turnstiles.

Fans - including the first minister - must show a Covid pass.

"That gives me the confidence of knowing everybody else attending the game is either double vaccinated or has had a lateral flow test in the run-up to attending," said Mr Drakeford.

"By putting these extra measures in place we believe we will be able to keep those venues operating in a way they are now, for longer."

The Wales Millennium Centre said it welcomed any moves that would help ensure the safety of its audiences and allow it to remain open, particularly before Christmas.

Artistic director Graeme Farrow said: "Timing is the only issue because we would have limited time to implement these changes in a climate when it's not easy to recruit more people. However the last thing we want is to close again."

Kelly Jolliffe, the landlady at the Greyhound Inn in Usk, Monmouthshire, would also support the need to show Covid passes in pubs, even it meant some customers decided not to come.

"I would much rather a pub full of safe people so I'm absolutely for it," she said.

"I think my customers and staff would feel a lot more comfortable and confident if that came in and I could implement that straight away.

"My only concern is the technology needed. We have an old pub with thick stone walls and the wi-fi is not great, but we could easily check a pass on a phone."

However Kate Nicholls, chief executive of UK Hospitality, tweeted that the proposed extension would be "catastrophic" for the industry.

"No furlough, grant or other support, a combination of working from home and wider use of vaccine passports would see many businesses struggling to survive," she said.

Steve Reynolds, director of Picturedrome Cinemas, which runs Maxime cinema in Blackwood, Caerphilly county, said he felt cinemas and theatres were being singled out.

He said: "I would ask the Welsh government to really think, 'are cinemas the main spread of coronavirus?' Why are they picking on this section of the entertainment business?

"In Blackwood, the cinema would be the only building requiring [Covid passes]. That doesn't seem fair or that it's going to restrict the spread.

"We're disappointed because business levels were just starting to get back to somewhere near normal. We'll also have to put extra staff on duty to do this, which would be an expense"

Wales is currently at alert level zero after most of the remaining lockdown rules were lifted in August, though people are required to wear masks in some indoor public areas.

Ministers have repeatedly said they do not expect a return to lockdown-style restrictions.

However, they have not ruled it out and have drawn up a plan - called Covid Urgent - for doing so if pressure on the NHS becomes unsustainable.

If implemented, it would mean the Welsh government going further than Plan B in England - which Conservative UK ministers have been under pressure to introduce - but much of which is already in place in Wales.

Mr Drakeford told BBC Radio Wales Breakfast "thousands of people" are falling ill every day in Wales, effecting the NHS and workplaces.

Latest figures show the Welsh Covid rate standing at 685.5 per 100,000 people over seven days to last Saturday.

It has fallen from 742.4 on 20 October, but remains the highest in the UK, compared to England (480), Northern Ireland (467) and Scotland (324).

On Friday, Public Health Wales reported a further seven people had died within 28 days of testing positive for Covid, bringing the total number of deaths in Wales to 6,141. Another 2,561 cases were also reported.

Mr Drakeford warned that if infections continued to rise in the next three weeks, more restrictions could return.

"We are not planning to have a Christmas of the sort we had to endure last year… but taking the actions we're talking about today will be critical to allowing us to be in that position," he said.

"None of us wants to see a return to restrictions but if rates continue to rise, the cabinet will have no choice but to consider raising the alert level at the next review."

The first minister urged the hospitality industry to use the next three weeks "to prepare for the possibility" of an extended use of Covid passes.

Businesses could also be asked to look at their risk assessments and also review social distancing guidelines in the workplace.

The next review is due in three weeks but the Welsh Conservatives and Lib Dems both oppose any expansion of Covid passes.

The introduction of the passes was narrowly secured when a Tory Member of the Senedd failed to vote remotely.

Welsh Tory health spokesman Russell George said his party remained unconvinced they were the right approach, adding: "We've seen the case numbers in Wales increase since they were introduced."

Welsh Lib Dem leader Jane Dodds said Covid passes were both "illiberal and unworkable".

"Recent leaked evidence from the UK government only last week continues to demonstrate that in addition to concerns over civil liberties, the scheme may be counterproductive, pushing people from larger venues into poorly ventilated smaller venues," she said.

Plaid Cymru said a stronger "vaccination passport" was a way forward and did not believe the Welsh government had provided evidence that its Covid pass scheme would be effective.

"We're looking again for that evidence as we look forward to this second vote," the party's health spokesman, Rhun ap Iorwerth said.

He called for a "reset" on the Covid strategy, adding the Welsh government's actions were "clearly not working".