Covid: Welsh minister urges caution over Christmas socialising

People have been urged to be cautious when socialising indoors at Christmas by Wales' health minister.

In response to growing concern over the Omicron variant, Eluned Morgan said the "threat" of indoor mixing should be taken seriously.

But she said it is too early to say if there will be festive restrictions.

Meanwhile, Wales' Covid vaccination chief said the expanded booster roll-out would probably need a "call to arms" for volunteers.

In response to the variant, the Welsh government is expanding the booster programme to all adults three months after they had their second jab.

And everyone who is in contact with an Omicron case will need to isolate for 10 days, regardless of whether they have been jabbed.

First Minister Mark Drakeford warned the Welsh Parliament that demands on the NHS are "about to get worse" with the new variant.

There have been at least 22 cases of Omicron found in the UK. None have been identified in Wales, although officials have warned it is inevitable it will arrive.

During Christmas 2020, only two households were allowed to meet on Christmas Day, in the middle of the Alpha wave.

Labour's Eluned Morgan told a press conference it was "too early to say yet what the Covid situation is likely to be as we enter the Christmas period".

She urged "people to act with caution over the Christmas period and to take very seriously the situation and the threat, indeed, of mixing with other people indoors during this time".

"It is something that we need to take seriously.

"Omicron has not yet arrived in Wales, but it is simply a question of time before it does."

The advice was not echoed by Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Tuesday, who said there was no need to "change the overall guidance about how people should be living their lives".

That was despite comments urging caution from Dr Jenny Harries, the head of the UK Health Security Agency, who urged people not to socialise if they do not need to in the run-up to Christmas.

Chairwoman of the vaccination board Dr Gill Richardson said the roll out of the expanded booster programme would be challenging.

Wales is not operating a walk-in system for boosters as has been used in England, with health boards offering appointments as they move through age groups - something the Welsh government says follows JCVI advice.

Dr Richardson said it would be expanded "as quickly as possible", and older people and at-risk groups would get theirs first.

Boosters had already been offered to people over 40 and at-risk groups six months after their last vaccine.

The expansion, she said, "will mean increasing the speed of the roll out and increasing the workforce to ensure we can offer boosters and second vaccines to everyone who is eligible".

Promising that supplies are available, Dr Richardson said plans included creating more capacity in clinics, using drive-through centres, working with GPs and other public service staff who are trained to give vaccines.

She said it would be "huge and complex" and would need a "real call to arms" from the workforce.

Dr Richardson suggested volunteers, charities, the fire service, agency staff and students could all be required to deliver the vaccines.

Boris Johnson has promised to offer everyone eligible a booster by the end of January - but Eluned Morgan did not commit to a target on Tuesday, and said they were being worked on.

As well as third doses for all adults, those who are severely immuno-compromised will also be offered a booster fourth dose following their course of three doses.

Young people aged 12-15 will also be offered a second dose of Pfizer 12 weeks after the first.

Clive Hopkins, co-owner of Blancos Hotel and Restaurant in Port Talbot, said Omicron had already had an impact on his business.

''This Saturday we had one booking for 150 people," he said. "We ended up to doing 120, 30 didn't turn up."

He said it was "very important" that he gets business at Christmas.

"Many hotels and restaurants and function suites have really struggled for a long time now and they have the chance to get a little bit of money back, probably to see them through the worst month of the lot in January.

"If this gets knocked back as well I dunno, people who were struggling all this time could possibly lose their businesses.''

Claire Brook, of Chester-based law firm Aaron and Partners with clients in Wales, said seasonal parties are "difficult for employers".

She said she is seeing clients with larger numbers of people "looking at ways of doing more team-specific smaller events, or even virtual get-togethers", rather than large gatherings.

"They have that balancing act of, whilst wanting to celebrate an offer something fun and probably a well-needed get-together for their teams, but balancing that against the potential risks that that they need to manage within their own workplaces."

Recent Covid figures have put the rolling seven-day rate per 100,000 at 472.1 over seven days - continuing a recent downward trend.

Four deaths were reported on Tuesday, putting the total at 6,405.

There were 587 patients with Covid in hospital beds in Wales on Monday, down from 644 the previous week, with 47 patients being ventilated in critical care beds - down from 58.

Despite the declining trends, Mr Drakeford warned the new variant would have an impact on the health service.

He told the Senedd on Tuesday it was a "very sobering truth" that pressures on the NHS "are about to get even more challenging over the coming weeks".

Welsh Conservative Paul Davies had raised a report from the Royal College of Emergency Medicine that there had been an "alarming number" of avoidable deaths in emergency departments due to crowding.

The Welsh Conservatives called for an "action plan", including the reopening of any closed mass vaccination centres, and bringing back NHS Covid volunteers.

They called for schools to stay open, and for ministers to commit to easing restrictions if Omicron "proves no more dangerous than Delta".

Russell George, Tory health spokesman, added: "The health minister is doing her best in difficult circumstances but given the pressures facing public health in Wales and the importance of the vaccine rollout, it's clear the first minister needs to provide support in the form of a dedicated vaccines minister moving forward."

For Plaid Cymru, Delyth Jewell was concerned about the well-being of frontline NHS staff.

"The past two years have been incredibly difficult for NHS workers and people in social care," she said.

"We need to make sure there is support available for people who are going to be facing the next few weeks with strain and some trepidation."