Five-mile travel restrictions may stay in place all summer
BLOW TO N.WALES TOURISM INDUSTRY WITH ‘STAY LOCAL’ GUIDELINES LIKELY TO STAY IN PLACE
THe Welsh Government’s five-mile travel guideline will continue into July and may even remain in place throughout the summer, First Minister Mark Drakeford has suggested.
He said easing the current staylocal advice was “not on my list of things to change” in the current three-week review period, which ends on June 18.
This indicates the Covid-19 guideline will not be eased until July 10 at the earliest.
Mr Drakeford said he could not be certain if the five-mile advice will be still be around in “another six or nine or 12 weeks”, as this will depend on the progression of the disease.
But it’s likely to remain operational if and when some tourism facilities are allowed to re-open, he said.
This would mean holidaymakers having to restrict day trips to short journeys if they stay in Wales.
It indicates the stay-local guidelines are here for the long haul.
speaking at the Welsh Government’s daily coronavirus briefing, Mr Drakeford said that, in a best case scenario, self-contained accommodation, such as cottages and self-catering flats, may be permitted to re-open at some point this summer.
B&Bs and hotels with shared facilities were a more difficult proposition, he said.
“There is a distinction to be drawn between people travelling to stay somewhere where they have their own kitchen and bathroom,” said the First Minister.
“That would be different from someone travelling to stay to a place where they are sharing kitchens, showers and toilets and where, inevitably, the level of risk would be greater.”
For those people who do stay in self-contained accommodation, they would then be governed by the five-mile advice, said Mr Drakeford.
This would apply to holidaymakers “just like everybody else,” he said, adding, “so that they are not shooting off around everywhere, meeting lots of different people.”
His comments will deal a blow to Wales’ tourist industry, which had been hoping to rescue part of this year’s high season. england and scotland are expected to give the go-ahead to the partial reopening of hotels, guest houses and campsites next month.
The remarks will also disappoint rural businesses critical of the five-mile guideline: last week lord Newborough, owner of the Rhug estate organic meat venture, warned it would destroy the rural economy if it remained in place for long.
However Mr Drakeford insisted caution was the best policy.
even though new Covid-19 cases had fallen from a high of about 400-a-day at the start of the lockdown, to around 50 new cases now, Wales couldn’t afford to drop its guard, he said.
“We have no immediate plans to lift the stay-local message in Wales,” said Mr Drakeford.
“It’s a difficult tightrope to walk because we want to lift lockdown measures further but we don’t people to run away with the idea that coronavirus is over.
“even if we are down to 50 new case every day, we’ve no idea who those 50 people might be, because coronavirus is a silent spreader. so it’s still very important to carry on with social distancing and with staying local.”
Mr Drakeford does not expect mass gatherings such as sports events and concerts to resume until next year.
Neither could he make “any promises” about re-opening pubs and restaurants.
In england the sector may reopen earlier than expected after dire warnings of huge job losses.
The next lockdown announcements in Wales are expected on June 19, a day after ministers are legally required to review the restrictions.
Mr Drakeford said he had “huge sympathy” for tourism businesses whose plans have been ruined “through no fault of their own”.
However Cardiff still hopes part of this year’s tourism season can be rescued.
It is lobbying the UK Government to extend its furlough scheme for those sectors which have no prospect of re-opening.
“It’s very distressing to think of firms which had good futures ahead of them in 2019 not being able to survive 2020,” said Mr Drakeford.
“We want them to have successful futures in 2021.”