Higher-level restrictions to come into force to control coronavirus

Higher-level restrictions will come into force to control rapidly accelerating coronavirus rates across Wales, First Minister Mark Drakeford said today (16 December).

The First Minister today confirmed the current conditions mean Wales has met the criteria in the new traffic-light Coronavirus Control Plan to move to alert level four. https://gov.wales/coronavirus-control-plan-alert-levels-wales

The new restrictions will apply to all of Wales.

All non-essential retail, including close contact services and all leisure and fitness centres will close at the end of trading on Christmas Eve.

All hospitality premises will close from 6pm on Christmas Day.

Tighter restrictions on household mixing, staying-at-home, holiday accommodation and travel will apply from December 28, after the five-day Christmas period.

The First Minister urged everyone who can to work from home, saying it is one of the most important contributions we can all make to controlling the spread of coronavirus and saving lives.

Mark Drakeford said:

“We are seeing levels of coronavirus in some parts of the country that we haven’t experienced at any point before in this pandemic. This pandemic is putting our NHS under intense and sustained strain. “There are more than 2,100 people with coronavirus symptoms in our hospitals – equivalent to five general hospitals fully occupied by people with coronavirus.

“This has been such a long and difficult year. We need to take this action to save lives and control the spread of this awful virus.”

The four UK governments met today to confirm the common arrangements for the five-day Christmas period. Joint advice will be published later today.

In Wales, the position will be that only two households should come together to form an exclusive Christmas bubble during that period.

The First Minister added:

“A smaller Christmas is a safer Christmas and a shorter Christmas is a safer Christmas.

“The fewer people we mix with in our homes, the less chance we have of catching or spreading the virus.

“None of us wants to be ill this Christmas. And we don’t want to give coronavirus to our close family or friends.”

The alert level four restrictions for household mixing, staying-at-home, holiday accommodation and travel will come into force after the five-day Christmas period on December 28.

Useful COVID-19 information

As each premises is different, businesses should read all guidance to understand the measures to be considered to re-open the business safely. These continue to be updated so please check back regularly for the latest information.

Coronavirus regulations:  https://gov.wales/coronavirus-regulations-guidance- these are updated regularly, please check back.

Guidance for tourism and hospitality businesses: coronavirus - these are updated regularly, please check back.

Hospitality (pubs, bars, cafés and restaurants) - mitigating guidance for Wales has been produced and updated in consultation with the Hospitality sector for Pubs, Bars, Cafes and Restaurants.

Frequently Asked Questions relating to Christmas events - includes if and how they can be organised. (Please note these FAQs have been added as an annex to the Keep Wales Safe: guidance for tourism and hospitality).

New regulations to suspend evictions this Christmas

Guidance on social distancing for everyone in Wales 

Health Protection (Coronavirus Restrictions) (No. 4) (Wales) Regulations 2020

Visit Wales Safely assets including an industry guide, and downloads including posters to help share the Addo (Wales’ Promise) messages and also a specific collection of images that have been carefully selected to reflect open spaces and social distancing. Use #Addo #VisitWalesSafely

Keep Wales Safe resources for you to use on your own social media and websites, to help give information to customers.

Stay up to date with tourism industry news

We are committed to providing the support and assurance the business community needs during these unprecedented difficult times and have issued several Coronavirus (COVID-19) related bulletins which can be found on the Tourism Industry Coronavirus (COVID-19) Bulletins page. 

Business Wales is providing businesses with tailored support and advice about dealing with coronavirus, from financial and supply chain planning to advice on staffing issues. We would advise Tourism businesses and stakeholders in Wales wanting specific guidance to visit the Business Wales website or call Business Wales helpline on 03000 6 03000, and to regularly visit the Public Health Wales website for up-to-date public health information for you, your staff and your visitors.

For full links go to here. https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/UKWALES/bulletins/2b0fa60?fbclid=IwAR2vuBGuOjUQcqDnZxyuN947UgwLg-ceMXhHqO4mfO9wyIvGvFj0GlStcuQ