Hope for easing of restrictions – but minister won’t rule out new lockdowns
HEALTH Minister Vaughan Gething has not ruled out the possibility that lockdown measures in Wales could be reintroduced after current restrictions are lifted.
Mr Gething told a press conference in Cardiff on Monday that ministers would have a responsibility to act if there was a “significant upswing” in Covid-19 cases.
But he stressed that getting children back to school remained a key priority – and said ministers were considering how they could give families “a bit more flexibility after such a long lockdown”.
The current lockdown started in Wales on December 20.
Coronavirus restrictions in Wales are formally reviewed every three weeks, with the cabinet due to decide today (Thursday) and First Minister Mark Drakeford expected to announce any changes this Friday.
The seven-day incidence rate in Wales has fallen to below 100 cases per 100,000 people for the first time in “many, many months”, while the test positivity rate is now under 10%.
Mr Gething told reporters that the “majority of headroom” created by the improved situation in Wales would be used to return children aged seven and under to face-to-face teaching from February 22.
“What we want to do is make choices based on the best available data and information, to see case rates driven as low as possible, and then to have a cautious exit out of the current lockdown that we’re in,” Mr Gething said.
“But if we make cautious steps outwards then it will still very much feel like a form of lockdown for most people because we’re not going to be returning straightway to what we thought of as our normal lives just over a year ago.
“We don’t want to see a return to having to introduce more restrictions but I wouldn’t say that we could give a cast iron guarantee that would never happen.
“If, for example, we’d found our way to have a number of restrictions removed but we then saw a significant upswing in the virus – whether it’s a new variant or otherwise – then we would have a responsibility to act.
“That’s why we all need to continue reminding ourselves that we’ve got (to) this place, with schools about to return next week for some of our youngest children attending, with lower death rates, with lower case rates all across the country.”
Level 4 restrictions – a national lockdown – were introduced in Wales nearly two months ago, with people told to stay at home apart from essential reasons.
Mr Gething said a “phased and flexible plan” had been developed with local education authorities and unions to enable children in the foundation stage to return to school from Monday.
“We’re looking to see if there are other small things we can do and the reason we’re saying small things is we’re trying to manage people’s expectations,” he said.
“We’re not suddenly going to have a wide-scale opening of all the measures and lots of mixing between different households.”
Ministers will use information from the country’s chief medical officer, scientific advisers, as well as data about transmission rates and NHS capacity, before making a decision on whether any restrictions can be eased.
First Minister Mark Drakeford previously said “cautious” talks are ongoing with the tourism and hospitality industries in Wales about reopening in time for Easter.
And he warned that any change will be “marginal”.
Speaking to BBC Politics Wales, he said: “We want to be clear to people that any changes will be marginal, but we are always keen to see if there is any opportunity to allow the outdoors to be more than is possible at present. To see if there are any marginal steps that we might be able to take for families, but it will depend.
“We will not be making those decisions until Thursday when we have the very latest information.
“Schools remain our top priority. Getting our children back into school is the most important thing we can do and then we will see if there is any marginal room for us to offer any other easements.”
He also spoke about Easter saying it was unlikely that the hospitality trade would be able to re-open, but that self-contained self-catering accommodation may be able to offer places.
Meanwhile, Mr Gething said Wales must be “very careful” about coming out of lockdown due to the presence of new and more infectious strains of Covid-19 in the UK. The Kent variant is the most dominant strain of the virus in Wales and cases of a
mutated version of that strain have been identified close to the border, in Bristol and Liverpool.
In total, 13 cases of the South African variant have been detected in Wales with all but two of these having links to international travel.
“It remains important we all work together to get the levels of coronavirus in our communities as low as we possible can,” Mr Gething said.
“The best way of reducing the likelihood of new variants emerging is to keep new infections low.”
Almost 785,000 people in Wales have received their first dose of the Covid-19 vaccine, the equivalent of one in four people in the country. Mr Gething said that they were starting to see positive reductions in cases in the community, with the seven
‘We’re not suddenly going to have a wide-scale opening of all the measures and lots of mixing between different households” Health Minister Vaughan Gething
day average rate falling below 100 cases per 100,000 people for the first time since the autumn, the positivity rate is less than 10%, and the R number remaining below 1 at between 0.7 and 0.9.
Returning to the vaccination programme, Mr Gething said that “every vaccine really is a small victory against this awful virus” and added that they were ready to begin the next big effort to vaccinate people in the priority groups five to nine by the end of April.
The Welsh Government hit its target of offering vaccinations to everyone in the top four priority groups by mid-February early.
Mr Drakeford said on Friday that Wales had become the first of the four nations to reach the first target, while the Prime Minister confirmed on Sunday that it had been met in England.
At his press conference Mr Gething also outlined what people in Wales can expect from the vaccine rollout in the coming months, with attention now turning to the next round of vaccinations.
He said: “We begin the next big effort to vaccinate people in the priority groups five to nine at the same time as we’re providing second dose appointments to all those in the first four groups.”
“We’ll start by offering appointments to people in groups five and six. This includes people aged 65 to 69, people aged 16 to 64 and with an underlying health condition, younger adults in residential care settings and a great many unpaid carers who are looking after people who are vulnerable.
“This is another massive logistical effort and we will be using all the resources we have available to use in the days and weeks ahead, including local pharmacies, to make sure we can vaccinate as many people as quickly as possible.”
Mr Gething also spoke about an upcoming temporary fall in the amount of vaccines available across the UK as a whole but said this wouldn’t affect people getting their second doses.
“We have to factor in a temporary slowdown of vaccine supply across the UK to our plans over the next couple of weeks,” he said.
“I want to be clear we have worked this into our plans and this will not delay anyone’s second dose appointment.
“We expect supplies to quickly pick up again by March and, if this happens, we will be on track to offer everyone in groups five to nine a vaccine by the end of April.”
The Welsh Government is also calling on people who decided previously not to take up a vaccine but had changed their mind to come forward.
Mr Gething issued this appeal: “Take-up has been incredibly high among the first four priority groups.
“If anyone wasn’t sure about having the vaccine when they were first asked and has now changed their mind, it’s not too late to get an appointment there are contact details on every health board website and on our website too.”