COVID-19: LOCKDOWN LATEST AS DEATH TOLL RISES
THE First Minister of Wales has said he will not be bound by Westminster over when to end lockdown measures as he warned that restrictions could get worse if people flout social distancing rules.
Mark Drakeford said he will only relax social distancing measures “when the evidence shows it is safe” and not be “looking over our shoulders at what others are doing”.
He also warned social restrictions could be “tightened”, including people not being allowed outside to exercise, if there is “large-scale flouting” of the guidelines.
The First Minister praised the majority of the public for adhering to the “enormous burden” of staying inside but added that fines could be increased if that changes, urging people to avoid going outside during the warm Easter bank holiday weekend.
His comments came yesterday as it emerged more than 300 people have now died after contracting coronavirus in Wales.
Public Health Wales said another 29 deaths had been reported in Wales, taking the total to 315.
There are now 4,591 confirmed cases of Covid-19 in Wales after 502 more cases were confirmed at the start of the Easter weekend.
But the real number of those with the virus is likely to be higher, Dr Robin Howe, incident director for Public Health Wales said.
Mr Drakeford confirmed the current three weeks of lockdown measures will be reviewed next week.
But he said there is a “great deal of work” ahead to look at how they can be lifted or relaxed in future.
The First Minister added that while it would be possible for the government to extend measures to prohibit outdoor exercise, he stressed it was not his “preference” to do so.
At a press conference, Mr Drakeford said: “We check every weekend with the police whether they think they have the powers they need and it’s important they are satisfied because they have to administer all of this at the sharp end.
“The position last weekend was that their powers are sufficient, but if they come to us and say they need more powers, they will get more powers.”
He added: “I don’t want anybody to be fined because I want everybody to do the right thing. I don’t think fines are a success – they are a sign of people not doing what we want them to do.
“I want to get the message over to people that the small minority of people who aren’t doing as everybody else is doing need to get that message and get into line.”
Mr Drakeford announced earlier this week that restrictions would be extended next week ahead of a planned three-week review.
He said: “I don’t want to give anyone any false hope that an end to these restrictions is just around the corner.
“Of course I know that people want to see some light at the end of the tunnel. I need us all to understand that we may all have to live with some form of restriction of movement for weeks yet.”
Mr Drakeford said a “great deal of work” is going in to the eventual relaxation of the lockdown but added that any decision on ending it would not be based on similar actions in England.
“We will do the right thing for Wales at the time that it is right for Wales,” he said.
This weekend residents are urged to stay at home despite the good weather.
Heads of public services across Wales signed a letter urging people to stay at home over the bank holiday weekend.
They wrote: “Our public services are working around the clock to care for and keep people safe during the coronavirus pandemic.
“Frontline workers are putting our health and care first, every day.
“We must continue to do everything we can to support them; to protect our NHS and to save lives. Stay at home and help stop the virus spreading.”
NHS England’s national medical director Stephen Powis said it was “critical” that people obeyed the instructions and stayed at home.
“We are beginning to see the benefits of this social distancing. We do
believe the virus is spreading less” he said.
“That will only continue to happen if we don’t get complacent and continue to follow those instructions.”
Addressing claims that carehomes in Wales have been unable to get PPE stocks that have been “reserved” for NHS England, Mr Drakeford said the majority of care homes remain coronavirus-free.
He said: “Suppliers are selling to the UK pot which we are part of. We have had a major draw down of PPE in Wales.
“My preference is for a four nation approach. Where possible we should work together and send a single message. That is the way we get the most clarity and simplicity of message. Around the edges we have take different decisions all the way through.”
A further 953 coronavirus deaths have been reported across the UK in the 24 hours to yesterday afternoon.
The figures released yesterday mark the highest daily jump of the pandemic so far as the number of reported deaths in Spain and Italy continues to fall.
It means a total of 9,016 people have now died after contracting Covid-19 across the UK – up from 8,063 on Thursday afternoon.
NHS England said 866 people who tested positive for Covid-19 have now died, bringing the total number of confirmed reported deaths in hospitals in England to 8,114.
Of the 866 new deaths announced yesterday, 117 occurred on April 9 while 720 happened between April 1 and April 8. The remaining 29 deaths occurred in March, including one on March 5.
In Scotland 48 deaths were reported in the last 24 hours, 10 in Northern Ireland and 29 in Wales.
Deaths in care homes and elsewhere are not recorded in those figures so the real number of dead is likely to be considerably higher.
Professor Neil Ferguson of Imperial College, who was the lead author of a report which warned 250,000 people could die if the Government did not introduce social distancing, said the measures were working better than they had predicted.
“We made quite conservative assumptions about the level of contact reduction these measures would result in,” he told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme.
“There is some preliminary evidence in terms of contact surveys, in terms of data from companies like Google about how people move, that we have seen even larger reductions in normal behaviour, contact, than we would have dared hope.
“That is good news but we have still got to see that reflected in case numbers coming down.”